Chennai: While a host of celebrities cast their votes in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections on Tuesday, two leading Kollywood actors became the talking point on social media and mobile messaging groups.
One of Tamil cinema’s top heroes Vijay cycled his way to the polling booth in Chennai to cast his vote. As video clips of the actor cycling went viral, many questioned if he was sending across a subtle message on the rising price of petrol and diesel. Netizens were also quick to point out that his cycle was painted red and black (the colour of the DMK flag) and began speculating if he was conveying a political message.
Another popular actor Ajithkumar, who has a similar frenzied fan following like that of Vijay, turned up to cast his vote wearing a black face mask with red strings. This too led to similar speculations. Vijay, who had in the past met top politicians of national and regional political parties including PM Modi during the 2014 Parliamentary elections, was later the target of State BJP leaders who took objection to his film Mersal mocking demonetisation. –N Chithra
Last year, the Income Tax Department conducted searches at his premises and he was whisked away from a shooting spot for questioning. The following day Vijay had climbed atop a bus at the shooting spot and taken a selfie with scores of his fans in the background. That selfie was the “most retweeted tweet of 2020” in India.
On Tuesday even as everyone was sharing their opinion on why he came to the polling booth riding a cycle, his PRO issued a message claiming that the actor pedalled his way to the booth since it was located close to his house. However, fans and supporters continued insisting that this was a message to highlight the fuel price hike.
