Actor-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) on Tuesday described Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s backing of the Vijay-starrer Jana Nayagan as a “friendly gesture”, even as the Tamil Nadu Congress insisted the remarks carried no political or electoral intent.
A senior TVK leader said Rahul Gandhi had been supportive since the Karur stampede on September 27, 2025, and that his statement opposing the Centre and backing Vijay’s final film should be seen in that light.
“Since the Karur stampede on September 27, 2025, he was supportive, and his statement today in favour of the Vijay's final film, and opposing the Centre was a friendly gesture,” the TVK leader said.
He declined to speculate on any possible poll alliance, saying such a decision rested solely with the party chief.
The Tamil Nadu Congress Committee said Rahul Gandhi’s statement was aimed only at what it called the “undemocratic methods” of the Censor Board and had no political motivation.
“Our leader Rahul’s statement hitting out at the I&B Ministry for its attempt to block Jana Nayagan is to unmask the real face of Modi-led government, which is not only undemocratic, but fascist and the statement has nothing to do with Tamil Nadu politics,” a senior Congress leader said.
In Tamil Nadu, the Congress party will only align with the DMK, and this was 200 per cent clear. "There will be no change at all," he added.
A TVK leader said: "Right from the beginning, Rahul Gandhi is friendly towards our party founder leader Vijay.
When the Karur stampede happened, he spoke to Vijay. Today, he has given this statement in support of 'Jana Nayagan' and opposing the Centre." He further said, "though we welcome the friendly gesture, we do not want to get into any speculation and all alliance decisions are only taken by our party chief." Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi said in a post on the social media platform 'X' that "the I&B Ministry's attempt to block Jana Nayagan is an attack on Tamil culture." "Mr Modi, you will never succeed in suppressing the voice of the Tamil people," the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.
The film's producer, KVN Productions, approached the Supreme Court challenging the January 9 interim order of the Madras High Court, which stayed a single-judge direction to grant the CBFC clearance to the movie that was originally scheduled for release on January 9.
Vijay's 'Jana Nayagan' is said to be his final film before his full-fledged entry into politics. But the film ran into a censor row.
According to Congress MP from Kanyakumari Vijay Vasanth, Rahul Gandhi rightly pointed out that the "theatrics" by the Central government will not succeed in undermining Tamil culture and its rich legacy.
"We stand firmly with Jana Nayagan and our people. Attempts at autocracy and intimidation have no place here and will never work with us," he said.
Reacting to the latest development, TVK joint general secretary C T R Nirmal Kumar categorically stated that there was "no change" in his party's stand on viewing the BJP as its ideological enemy.
Asked if the Congress was cozying up for an electoral alliance for the 2026 Assembly election, he replied, "it is for our leader to take a call on alliance." "Let Jana Nayagan be released. Tamil people, cinema artistes, technicians and those across the country want to watch Thalapathy Vijay's last film peacefully without any obstacle," Kumar said.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu BJP's chief spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathy, in a post on X, said that the Congress party calls the legal action of CBFC as anti-democratic and against freedom of expression. But the same party demands a ban on the film Parasakthi "which itself is anti-democratic and against freedom of expression," he added.
"This is utterly shameful. It clearly shows to what extent the Congress party is ready to stoop to any level and compromise on all standards just for the sake of politics," he said.
