Like Vijay, Jayalalithaa missed an election campaign, ‘caught in a sea of humanity’
Last week, actor and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam founder C. Joseph Vijay disappointed his supporters when he did not address them at an Assembly election meeting
Last week, actor and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam founder C. Joseph Vijay disappointed his supporters when he did not address them at an Assembly election meeting in Karaikudi on April 10, 2026, as his arrival was delayed “due to huge crowds en route” from Madurai. Vijay’s “silent” campaign revived memories of a development that took place over a quarter of a century ago in Tamil Nadu at the height of the 1999 parliamentary elections. The snap polls were being held in the country after AIADMK leader Jayalalitha (as her name was spelled then) pulled down the 13-month old Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, elected in 1998. The collapse of the BJP-led alliance government was preceded by a tea party hosted by Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy (now in BJP), in New Delhi in which Jayalalitha and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi participated. It paved the way for the revival of the AIADMK-Congress alliance in Tamil Nadu. On August 17, 1999, the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (I) president Tindivanam K. Ramamurthi at a press conference announced that Ms. Gandhi and Jayalalitha will jointly address an election meeting at Villupuram on August 22, canvassing support for the front’s candidates. However, on August 22, as Ms Gandhi, TNCC (I) leaders and candidates of the front waited at Villupuram for several hours for Jayalalitha’s arrival, she did not turn up.
Ms. Gandhi then addressed the crowd of supporters and left, while AIADMK leaders claimed she was held up en route. Jayalalitha’s “no show” quickly became a talking point in political circles. The following day, DMK leader and Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, who had joined hands with the BJP to fight the polls, said the Congress (I) president had had a bitter foretaste of what lay ahead due to her party’s alliance with Jayalalitha-led AIADMK. “Should, by some quirk of chance, Ms. Sonia Gandhi come to power, Ms. Jayalalitha’s attitude may well force the former to flee to Italy,” Mr. Karunanidhi quipped at an election meeting in Sivaganga, according to a report in The Hindu. Referring to Jayalalitha’s campaign at Ulunderpet, just 20 km from Villupuram, on August 21, Karunanidhi said it would have been proper for the AIADMK leader to stay back there and join Ms. Gandhi for the joint campaign on Sunday. However, Jayalalitha chose to return to Chennai on Saturday and announce a fresh campaign schedule for Sunday from Chennai to Villupuram. “That itself was an indication that the Villupuram joint meeting would be a non-starter,” he quipped. Adverting to how Ms. Gandhi had to wait in the Collector’s bungalow at Villupuram for an hour, Karunanidhi said television images showed a “pathetic and dejected” Ms. Gandhi pacing the terrace.
The BriefWire