In Tamil Nadu politics, even a hand gesture can acquire a life of its own. MK Stalin made it first. Vijay borrowed it, and turned it into a viral moment inside the Assembly. Now, the DMK has found a new way to turn the gesture against the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief minister – by drawing a parallel with the RSS’s flag-salutation posture.
In March this year, Stalin, then chief minister, was walking out of the DMK headquarters in Chennai and getting into his car when reporters asked whether the seat-sharing talks were over. Stalin raised his hand and made a slicing gesture, signalling that the matter was settled and the seat-sharing arrangement finalised.
Meanwhile, the TVK and its supporters have embraced Vijay’s dramatic gesture, which has increasingly become a fixture at party events. Its appeal has also travelled beyond the party’s political gatherings. Recently, Tamil Nadu Minister Arun Raj posted a video featuring medical aspirants at a government medical college, with students seen imitating Vijay’s hand movement.
Vijay was now the chief minister of Tamil Nadu. During a debate in the Assembly, he criticised the DMK and sought permission from Speaker JCD Prabhakar to demonstrate a gesture in the absence of DMK members, who had walked out of the House.Vijay then reproduced Stalin’s now-viral hand gesture. The moment quickly caught on, drawing cheers from the treasury benches and triggering a flurry of discussion on social media. The TVK defended it as a lighthearted moment. The irony was hard to miss. When Vijay repeated it, the DMK criticised him
When Stalin made the gesture, the AIADMK, then the principal opposition party, had criticised it as “vain”.
