What worked for Vijay’s TVK, ended four decades of Dravidian rule

Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, TVK, won 107 seats in Tamil Nadu, defeating the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's 74 seats and pushing the AIADMK-led combine to third with 53 seats. TVK's campaign was designed to be a generational verdict against 40 years of Dravidian duopoly. The party's leader, Vijay, drew a distinction between his opponents, positioning TVK as a clean, modern, and secular alternative. TVK's candidate slate featured mostly young and inexperienced candidates, with 60% of nominees having never contested an election. The party's manifesto offered specific, quantified promises to target voter