Vijay slams NEET, backs 2-language policy in Assembly

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Joseph Vijay has hit back at critics who have labelled his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) an “actor’s party”, using an Assembly speech on Tuesday morning to deliver a pointed reminder of the party’s sweeping success in the recent April-May election. In a powerful address that covered a wide range of issues — from the central government’s alleged imposition of Hindi on non-Hindi speaking states to demands to scrap the NEET medical entrance exam — he rebuked doubters who have questioned the TVK’s political longevity and his own administrative capabilities.

Vijay reminded the Assembly that his party had overcome numerous conspiracies and restrictions to secure victory, asserting that neither he nor the TVK had any intention of fading away. He remarked that power was not achieved easily, noting that only those within the movement knew the struggles faced to win a place in the hearts of the Tamil people. He rebutted the criticism coming from those who claim not to understand how the party is legitimate by making it an actors’ show as the TVK does not care what people say about that. He reminded everyone of their open politics and the 35 per cent votes that they had won, despite all the barriers in the system.

Moving on to the controversial NEET (National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test), which is the only qualifying exam needed to join any medical college in the whole of India, Vijay made the point that the prevailing system leads to extreme inequality and again called for its complete elimination. The NEET exam has long been the subject of major controversy over the past few years due to the deaths of students through suicide because of stress and leakage of exam papers. Tamil Nadu has consistently demanded that the exam be abolished, advocating instead for medical seats to be allocated based on Class 12 marks.

On the emotive issue of Hindi imposition, a topic that has historically sparked violent protests in the southern state, the new Chief Minister insisted that the existing two-language formula remains entirely sufficient. He maintained that Tamil should serve as the state language, with English utilised as the global language for wider communication.

Vijay even talked about the unfortunate Karur stampede incident which happened during the election meeting in which he was supposed to speak, saying that he had never forgotten his grief over the mishap which led to the loss of 41 innocent lives. He lambasted his political rivals for trying to lay the blame on him, questioning if the politics had sunk to such lows. The act was widely seen as an obvious reaction to the DMK party and MK Stalin.

As the actor turned politician brought the curtains down on his speech, he gave an interesting bit of history and drew a comparison to two landmark elections in 1967 and 1977, won by the DMK led by CN Annadurai and the AIADMK led by the legendary actor politician MG Ramachandran. While mentioning that Annadurai and MGR had done well in the past to create governments for the masses, Vijay pointed out that his government will also do likewise in 2026. Referring to the dynastic politics of the DMK party, he declared that the objective of the TVK is to benefit each individual household and not one particular dynasty.

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