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Actor-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) was allotted the ‘whistle’ symbol by the Election Commission of India on Thursday, January 22.
The TVK was registered as a political party in February 2024 and is an unrecognised party. The ECI notified the allocation as per provisions in the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order 1968 ahead of the Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Assembly elections, which are expected to take place between April and May.
Para 10 B of the Act, which allows for the allotment, also specifies that the party has to put up candidates in at least 5% of the Assembly constituencies and/or at least two candidates in the state.
Vijay had announced that the 2026 Assembly election was a ‘target election" and that TVK would contest in all 234 constituencies of Tamil Nadu and 30 constituencies of Puducherry.
The application for the common symbol had been moved in November 2025, according to a report in The Hindu.
TVK had provided a list of 10 symbols, including seven from the EC’s own list of free symbols and three other symbols designed by the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK). These included the auto-rickshaw, cricket bat, and whistle.
Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Neethi Maiam, meanwhile, received the battery torch as its common symbol.
Meanwhile, Vijay is scheduled to begin his second phase of political campaigning on January 25. Vijay had announced that he would be entering politics full-time after completing his last film, Jana Nayagan. The movie had run into censor board troubles, following which the party had not conducted any rallies or meetings for over a month.
To expedite election-related activities, Vijay had announced a 12-member manifesto drafting committee on January 9 and a 10-member election coordination committee on January 16 to oversee election campaigns and field operations.