TN: 2026 election battle hots up as strategist Prashant Kishor meets TVK leader Vijay

In a highly significant move, political strategist Prashant Kishor met actor and Tamiliga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president Vijay to discuss a strategy for next year’s Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Nadu is poised to become a heated battle as actor Vijay will make his debut in the assembly elections.

The meeting at Vijay’s Chennai residence on Monday (February 10) went on for about two hours with the TVK’s senior leaders present, media reports said.

Vijay, a hugely successor actor, is known to be positioning himself as a political alternative in Tamil Nadu to both the regional parties, the DMK and the AIADMK.

Interestingly, Kishor had worked with DMK ahead of the 2021 election. However, after the election, he announced that he was quitting as an election strategist.

Special advisor to Vijay

“He (Kishor) is likely to be a special advisor to Vijay for the 2026 election,” an unnamed person who attended the meeting was quoted as saying. “He will help chart out our political strategies,” the person added.

Also read: TN: Vijay to throw his weight behind farmers, oppose Parandur airport

The meeting between Prashant, who also leads his own Jan Suraaj Party, and Vijay, who launched the TVK last year, was facilitated by Aadhav Arjuna, who was formerly with the VCK party, an ally of the ruling DMK.

Arjuna, who also runs a political strategy firm, is now the TVK general secretary in charge of election campaign management.

Political alternative

Prashant Kishor has worked with a few political parties for election strategies and came to prominence when he advised Narendra Modi in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, which the Bharatiya Janata Party swept.

Vijay, a hugely successor actor, is known to be positioning himself as a political alternative in Tamil Nadu to both the regional parties, the DMK and the AIADMK.