The contrast he was drawing was hard to miss. Vijay, who launched his party TVK only in 2024, contested the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections and secured 108 seats, enough to make TVK the single largest party and end decades of dominance by the DMK and AIADMK. He became Chief Minister in 2026, barely two years after entering politics.

Pawan Kalyan said he felt a little jealous watching Vijay’s swift rise after TVK’s first electoral contest. He said the moment reflected public hunger for change, while stressing that building a party takes years of understanding people’s expectations.