{"id":12934,"date":"2026-04-19T08:20:41","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T08:20:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/?p=12934"},"modified":"2026-04-19T08:20:41","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T08:20:41","slug":"130366926-cms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/?p=12934","title":{"rendered":"Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections: Tamil Nadu polls: Vijay\u2019s TVK backs independent candidate in Salem\u2019s Edappadi, calls for \u2018fitting lesson\u2019 | India News &#8211; The Times of India"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"e9jwa\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"GfdvZ\">\n<section class=\"_bIDB  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  E9tg9 \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"_bIDB\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"ypVvZ\">\n<div class=\"WGttI\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-130366986,imgsize-122470,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/untitled-design-17.jpg\" alt=\"Tamil Nadu polls: Vijay\u2019s TVK backs independent candidate in Salem\u2019s Edappadi, calls for \u2018fitting lesson\u2019\" title=\"&lt;p&gt;Tamil Nadu polls: Vijay\u2019s TVK backs independent candidate in Edappadi\u2019s Salem, calls for \u2018fitting lesson\u2019&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Ta7d_ img_cptn\"><span title=\"Tamil Nadu polls: Vijay\u2019s TVK backs independent candidate in Edappadi\u2019s Salem, calls for \u2018fitting lesson\u2019\"><\/p>\n<p>Tamil Nadu polls: Vijay\u2019s TVK backs independent candidate in Edappadi\u2019s Salem, calls for \u2018fitting lesson\u2019<\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>NEW DELHI: Ahead of the April 23 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, actor-turned-politician Vijay has announced that his party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), will support an independent candidate in the high-profile Edappadi constituency.<!-- --> <span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"3\"\/>The move comes after the party\u2019s official nominee was unable to enter the fray.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"5\"\/>In a post on X on Sunday, Vijay urged voters in Salem district to back K Premakumar, a former administrator of his fan club, describing him as \u201cour own brother.\u201d He said the party had \u201cunanimously decided to support\u201d Premakumar, who is contesting under the \u201ctelevision set\u201d symbol.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"7\"\/>\u201cTherefore, I wish to inform you that, on behalf of our Tamil Nadu Victory League, we have unanimously decided to support our former administrator, Mr K Premakumar,\u201d Vijay said, appealing to voters to ensure his victory by a \u201cmassive margin,\u201d as reported PTI.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"11\"\/>The TVK chief also struck a sharp political tone, calling on supporters to deliver a result that would serve as a \u201cfitting lesson\u201d to those who allegedly tried to suppress the party\u2019s symbol through \u201cunderhanded means.\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"13\"\/><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"15\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h3>Nomination setback prompts strategic shift<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"17\"\/>Premakumar\u2019s backing comes after the Election Commission rejected TVK\u2019s official candidate Arun Kumar\u2019s nomination on technical grounds, forcing the party to recalibrate its strategy in the constituency. <span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"20\"\/>Premakumar is now being projected as the party\u2019s \u201ccandidate in spirit.\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"22\"\/>The Edappadi Assembly seat is considered a stronghold of Edappadi K Palaniswami, the AIADMK general secretary and former chief minister, making the contest politically significant.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"24\"\/>The development comes days after Vijay unveiled TVK\u2019s manifesto for the elections, outlining a range of welfare measures, including monthly financial assistance for women, interest-free loans for self-help groups, job creation initiatives, and expanded healthcare coverage.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"26\"\/>Launched in February 2024, TVK is contesting its first Assembly elections, positioning itself as a challenger to established Dravidian parties in the state.<\/div>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/india\/tamil-nadu-polls-vijays-tvk-backs-independent-candidate-in-salems-edappadi-calls-for-fitting-lesson\/articleshow\/130366926.cms\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tamil Nadu polls: Vijay\u2019s TVK backs independent candidate in Edappadi\u2019s Salem, calls for \u2018fitting lesson\u2019&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12935,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[31058,724,723,31060,719,720,721,31057,31062,31061,14350,31064,722,31059,31063,25490],"class_list":["post-12934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-aiadmk-edappadi-k-palaniswami","tag-breaking-news","tag-google-news","tag-independent-candidate-support","tag-india","tag-india-news","tag-india-news-today","tag-k-premakumar-edappadi","tag-political-strategy-tamil-nadu","tag-salem-district-elections","tag-tamil-nadu-assembly-elections","tag-tamil-nadu-victory-league","tag-today-news","tag-tvk-manifesto-welfare-measures","tag-tvk-political-debut-2024","tag-vijay-tamilaga-vettri-kazhagam"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}