Let Vijay form government: Prakash Raj criticizes Governor over delay
Prakash Raj said that Vijay should be invited to form the government and prove majority in the House. He criticized the Governor’s delay, saying Vijay should now answer the doubts over governance and administration.
Actor Prakash Raj told India Today that after securing the mandate in Tamil Nadu, Vijay should be allowed to form the government and prove his majority in the House. Raj said the outcome was unexpected and would take time to fully assess, but he stressed that the immediate task was to respect the decision and allow the democratic process to play out.
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At the same time, Raj said he was concerned about governance under a leader with no administrative background. He said the question of whether Vijay’s performance was inspired by anti-incumbency, fan following or social media could be discussed later, but added that the mandate cannot be denied. “The first thing we have to do is accept the mandate,” he said.
Raj said that his concerns during the elections were those of a citizen and not of a party worker. He said that in a democracy, “the people also have the right to be wrong, not the leaders”, but he also said that winning everything with a face is not healthy if voters do not know who their local representatives are. He said governance cannot depend on one person and his concern is about how the state will be run.
He sharply criticized the Tamil Nadu Governor, saying that if Vijay had the numbers, he should be invited to stake his claim. Referring to Vijay’s claim of 108 seats and Congress’ claim of five, Raj said, “The Governor’s House is not the truth. Moreover, it is the floor of the House.” He said the governor has “no business” to decide on the matter at home and added, “Let him claim, let him prove in the House. Why are you not giving him democratic rights along with the mandate?” Raj described the situation as “very unfair” and said it was “not democracy”.
Raj said that those who did not accept Vijay as a leader should also wait and see. He said Vijay now has a chance to prove his critics wrong, while voters will also evaluate him based on his performance. But Raj stressed that governance would depend not only on the chief minister but also on the cabinet and the broader administration. He said emotional appeals do not work in governance and asked whether the incoming team has a clear vision on handling finance, agriculture, education and bureaucracy. On election promises and freebies, he said all parties have made promises and they should be evaluated on the basis of whether they are accountable to them or not.
Speaking about Vijay as a person, Raj said that he knew him for the first two to two and a half decades of his career and worked with him in several films, but they never discussed politics. He said, that is why he had doubts on the political and administrative side of Vijay. “Popularity cannot be the model of governance,” he said. Raj said that during the elections he had asked people to think before voting and consider who is representing their constituency. He said he worries when “someone like PTR (Palnivel Thiyaga Rajan) loses” and when “someone like Stalin loses”, because the question is not whether people want an alternative or not, but which alternative they have chosen.
Asked about the Chief Minister’s defeat and three-fourth of the cabinet members losing, Raj said there was definitely an anti-incumbency wave and both the major parties had perhaps become inaccessible to the common man. But he said the desire for change alone should not decide the election, especially when the issues are governance, jobs and people’s lives. He argued that governments cannot simply promise jobs without explaining how they will create them, and he questioned promises of cash or benefits, asking, “Who are you to give me my money?” Nevertheless, he said that the people’s decision should be respected, whether they liked Vijay or not. He said that the opposition should sit decently in opposition without horse-trading and continue the democratic process.
Concluding with a message to Vijay, Raj said, “Darling, you won. Congratulations to you.” He said that, as a friend, he still had his doubts, but said, “Please prove me wrong. Give good governance to Tamil Nadu. That’s all I want. Nothing personal against you.”