Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) President and actor Vijay appealed to students participating in the party's felicitation functions on Friday, June 13, to refrain from comparing him to the late Chief Minister K Kamaraj or discussing the 2026 assembly elections.
At one such event organised on Friday, June 13, Vijay honoured Class 10 and Class 12 students who secured top ranks in their respective schools across Tamil Nadu, according to the report by The New Indian Express.
During his address, he requested the students' participants to avoid political references and refrain from using terms like "Ilaiya Kamaraj (Little Kamaraj)" to refer to him.
Before the event began, attendees observed a two-minute silence in memory of the victims of the Air India flight crash in Ahmedabad on Thursday. "This is a small request, please don't take it the wrong way. Let's keep the speeches a bit brief and avoid political references. Please refrain from speaking about the 2026 elections, or mentioning leaders like Kamaraj or Ilaya Kamaraj. Instead, talk about your teachers, your school, or any other subject of your choice," he said.
Vijay's remarks appeared to be a response to recent controversies. Certain groups and caste-based organisations opposed to students comparing Vijay with Kamaraj at a recent event, as per the report by The New Indian Express.
At Friday's event, approximately 300 meritorious students from 32 Assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu and 19 in Puducherry were presented with cash prizes and merit certificates.
