Last Updated:May 10, 2026, 16:23 IST

The BJP’s rise under Modi and Shah was about building a party machine and a booth-level management system. TVK replicated this almost exactly.

The Tamil Nadu Assembly elections of 2026 delivered a verdict that stunned the country’s political establishment. On May 4, the Election Commission declared results that saw Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), a party barely two years old, emerge as the single largest party in Tamil Nadu, ending a 59-year streak of uninterrupted Dravidian dominance.

The results created Tamil Nadu’s first hung assembly. The AIADMK lost its official opposition status to the DMK. Outgoing Chief Minister MK Stalin lost the Kolathur seat he had won three times consecutively, and resigned on May 5. TVK’s chief ministerial candidate Vijay won both the Perambur and Tiruchirappalli East constituencies he contested in.

This was not luck. This was architecture.

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Organisational Ground-Up Construction Before Poll

The BJP’s rise under Narendra Modi and Amit Shah was about building a party machine and a booth-level management system. TVK replicated this almost exactly.

In February last year, TVK announced a large-scale enrolment drive, with plans to appoint more than 70,000 booth agents and restructure its internal hierarchy in preparation for the 2026 state assembly elections. Since its launch in February 2024, the party has rolled out a new organisational structure, appointing 10 Deputy General Secretaries, 10 Zonal In-Charges, and 5 Organisational Secretaries to oversee all 234 constituencies.

TVK planned zone-wise booth committee meetings, dividing Tamil Nadu into South, North, Delta (East), and Kongu (West) regions, all overseen by Vijay directly.

The party set a target of enrolling two crore members in the state.

The BJP’s signature tool is the “panna pramukh” system, where one dedicated party worker is responsible for a single page of the voter list (roughly 30 voters). TVK’s 70,000 booth agents across 234 constituencies is the Tamil equivalent, a microscopic voter coverage architecture.

TVK held important strategy meetings in Chennai bringing together state executives and district secretaries, focusing on booth-level mobilisation and coordination of field activities.

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Fan Clubs As The RSS

The BJP’s deep success owes enormously to the RSS, a pre-existing, decades-old cadre network with embedded trust at the grassroots level. TVK had an equivalent: Vijay’s fan clubs.

In July 2009, actor Vijay organised his fan clubs, reportedly numbering around 85,000 across Tamil Nadu, under the umbrella of a welfare association titled Vijay Makkal Iyakkam (Vijay’s People Movement). The association supported the AIADMK-led Alliance in the 2011 elections. After a period of non-involvement, the organisation contested local body elections in Tamil Nadu in 2021 and won 115 out of the 169 seats it contested.

These were not ordinary fan associations. They evolved into a disciplined and structured network spread across Tamil Nadu. Since the 1990s, this network was steadily built. What began as cinematic admiration slowly transformed into organised social engagement including blood donation camps, welfare activities for the poor, and disaster relief efforts. These initiatives created trust and built social capital. That very capital later became the foundation of a political base.

Fan clubs had already been interacting with local communities, understanding issues, and informally gathering ground-level insights. When the party was officially formed, this groundwork immediately translated into operational strength. This is why TVK entered the political space with a ready grassroots presence.

This is essentially what the BJP did between 2012 and 2014, converting a pre-existing ideological network into an electoral machine. TVK did it with a fanbase instead of a religious-cultural one.

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Prashant Kishor And Data-Driven War Room

The BJP famously used Prashant Kishor in 2014 and again for key state campaigns. TVK did the same.

Poll strategist Prashant Kishor held a series of meetings with TVK top brass to chalk out a comprehensive strategy for the fledgling party. Kishor submitted a detailed SWOT analysis report to the party leadership, outlining its strengths and weaknesses, as well as identifying areas of improvement. The report provided a roadmap for the party to increase its vote share, which Kishor estimated could be around 15% to 20%.

Senior TVK leaders revealed that the report was “a comprehensive document that provides a 360-degree view of the party’s current situation and offers suggestions on how to improve its prospects in the elections.”

Kishor dismissed the view that TVK needed the AIADMK’s support, affirming the party would contest independently. “TVK has a high chance of winning Tamil Nadu elections in 2026,” he stated, telling people to “keep this video and play it when the results come.”

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Digital Dominance, Algorithm Over Pavement

The BJP’s 2014 campaign was called India’s first social media election. TVK ran Tamil Nadu’s equivalent in 2026.

TVK’s digital architect C.T.R Nirmal Kumar was a veteran of digital war rooms for both the BJP and AIADMK. He possessed specialised knowledge to build an aggressive, algorithm-driven social media ecosystem.

Analysts cited TVK’s strong digital campaign portraying itself as a fresh, corruption-free alternative as one of the major factors that fueled Vijay’s success, as opposed to the perceived fatigue over Dravidian tenures.

TVK’s October 2024 Vikravandi conference drew an estimated 3 lakh turnout and was live-streamed across every digital platform, the sort of mass-digital convergence that defined BJP’s Modi rallies. TVK understood that in the attention economy, a single large-scale visible event could rewrite an entire news cycle.

Strategic Patience, Skip 2024 And Own 2026

One of the BJP’s most underappreciated strategies has been knowing which battle to skip. Modi’s BJP declined to overextend in certain state elections where they had no base, preserving resources for winnable targets. Vijay made it clear that TVK would not contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, choosing instead to concentrate on building grassroots support for 2026.

“Our goal is to contest the 2026 assembly elections and lead the fundamental political change that people need,” he said.

Perhaps the most strategic decision was patience. Vijay chose not to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. This sent a strong signal he was not in a hurry. He was playing a long game. Organization first, elections later. This approach clearly distinguishes TVK from many newly formed political outfits that rush into electoral battles without groundwork.

This patience paid enormous dividends. By not contesting 2024, TVK avoided the humiliation that typically kills nascent parties. Kamal Haasan’s MNM is a cautionary tale. TVK preserved its narrative of invincibility and completed its organisational build-out.

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Ideology As Brand Architecture

The BJP built its electoral identity around a triangulated ideological product: strong nationalism, Hindutva cultural pride, and anti-incumbency against Congress dynastic rule. TVK built an almost structurally identical triangulation for Tamil Nadu’s context.

TVK unveiled its ideology as “secular social justice,” supporting secularism, egalitarianism, a two-language policy, and democracy. Vijay termed the BJP an “ideological opponent” due to its right-wing politics, and the DMK a “political adversary” due to alleged corruption and dynastic politics.

TVK’s ideologue Arokiasamy engineered a hybrid ideology that fused Dravidian principles with Tamil nationalism, a strategic pincer movement that allowed TVK to challenge both the DMK and the BJP simultaneously without being boxed into a singular ideological corner.

This is textbook triangulation. By positioning against both establishment poles, TVK could claim moral authority over the entire Tamil political spectrum, something no Dravidian party could do because each owned only one pole.

TVK passed 26 resolutions criticising the central and state governments at its November 2024 conference. At the first General Council meeting in March 2025, TVK passed 17 resolutions opposing central policies like the three-language formula and Waqf Bill. These were not just policy statements. They were identity-signalling events, each generating media cycles and voter segmentation, mirroring how BJP used Ram Mandir, Article 370, and Triple Talaq as ideological beacons.

Fresh Face vs Dynasty Narrative

Analysts reported that TVK hauled vote banks of both the DMK and AIADMK, pulling youth, women, urban, and first-time voters irrespective of caste or religious affiliations, attributing Vijay’s appeal more to a promise of change than a meticulous ideology.

This is the exact same “outsider vs dynasty” narrative the BJP weaponised against the Congress in 2014, Modi as the tea-seller from Gujarat versus the Nehru-Gandhi establishment. Vijay played the same card against the Stalin family in the DMK and the Palaniswami-Panneerselvam turf war in the AIADMK.

TVK’s inner circle assembled a team that understood algorithms as well as Ambedkar, social justice alongside booth management, creating a third force that speaks the language of the 21st century. This synthesis of fan-club loyalty and professional expertise redefined the grammar of Tamil politics.

The Result Architecture: A Hung Assembly, Not A Landslide

TVK’s 108 seats fell 10 short of the magic majority mark of 118. This was not failure. It was the inevitable friction of a first-time party contesting alone in 233 constituencies with zero incumbent advantage. TVK, which had cited former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Kamarajar of the INC as one of the party’s ideological icons, invited the INC MLAs to form a coalition government, which the INC accepted after leaving the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance, leading to the formation of a new government.

The highest voter turnout in the state’s history, 85.1%, was recorded, an increase of 12.41 percentage points. Surging turnout typically benefits insurgent forces, not incumbents.

The Verdict

TVK’s 2026 campaign was not a celebrity experiment. It was a systematically engineered political project that borrowed the BJP’s playbook and adapted it for Tamil Nadu’s unique cultural and ideological landscape:

• RSS converted to Fan Clubs as the pre-existing cadre army

• Booth management via 70,000 booth agents replicating panna pramukh logic

• Prashant Kishor’s data warfare replacing gut-level political instinct

• Digital algorithm-driven campaigns supplanting traditional street mobilisation

• Strategic patience by skipping 2024 and consolidating for 2026

• Anti-dynasty narrative replacing anti-Congress sentiment

Triangulated ideology positioning against both ruling poles simultaneously. Political critics and journalists stated that anti-incumbency against the DMK government, Vijay’s mobilisation of his fan clubs into a unified party, and TVK’s strong digital campaign portraying itself as a fresh, corruption-free alternative were the major factors that fuelled Vijay’s success, drawing comparisons with former actor-turned-Chief Ministers M.G. Ramachandran and J. Jayalalithaa.

The deeper lesson may be this: the BJP’s template was never about Hindutva specifically. It was about organisational discipline, narrative control, data-driven targeting, and a charismatic face framed as change. Vijay’s TVK proved that template is not ideologically exclusive. It is a transferable political technology. And in Tamil Nadu in 2026, it worked.

Read More

Pregnancy and childbirth bring with them a range of transformative changes for a woman that are physiological, psychological, and emotional all at once. From the time of conception to carrying a life in her womb for months, the journey alters not just her body, but also reshapes and readjusts her emotional and mental wiring to this profound new life event.Added to this deeply personal transition is the societal pressure to constantly prove oneself as a “good mother.” Often, even those closest to her find their attention shifting entirely to the newborn, while the new mother, navigating this huge life transition, finds herself caught in a whirlwind of identity transition, emotional upheaval, physical exhaustion, and persistent sleep deprivation.Yet, amid the chaos and uncertainty, many mothers also describe discovering a new sense of resilience, emotional depth, and connection with their child. But layered over this experience is an unbroken cognitive load of constant planning, feeding schedules, doctor visits, sleep cycles, routines, and worry. Over time, this sustained mental effort gives shape to what is commonly referred to as “mommy brain or mom brain.”

What is “Mommy Brain”?

“Mommy brain” is a commonly used term to describe the forgetfulness, mental fog, and reduced concentration many women report during pregnancy and after childbirth.It often shows up in small, everyday moments in misplacing things, forgetting words mid-sentence, difficulty focusing, or feeling mentally scattered while trying to manage multiple tasks at once. For many women, it is less about a loss of ability and more about a constant sense of divided attention.

The science behind “mommy brain”

A longitudinal brain-imaging study published in Nature Neuroscience tracked women from pre-conception through pregnancy and up to two years postpartum. The research found an average 4% reduction in gray matter volume across several brain regions, along with increased structural integrity in white matter connections. These changes were linked with hormonal fluctuations, particularly rising estrogen and progesterone, as well as sleep disruption and the cognitive demands of pregnancy and early caregiving.The study, part of the broader Maternal Brain Project, is considered significant because it followed participants longitudinally rather than relying on before-and-after snapshots. Researchers observed that while gray matter volume partially rebounds after childbirth, it does not always return fully to pre-pregnancy levels, suggesting both temporary and longer-term brain adaptations.Scientists involved in the research describe these changes not as decline, but as neural “recalibration.” Brain regions involved in memory, attention, and decision-making appear to reorganise during pregnancy, while areas linked to empathy, vigilance, and responsiveness to infant cues become more finely tuned. A similar pattern of brain reorganisation has been observed during adolescence, when the brain undergoes structural refinement as it matures from childhood to adulthood.

Inside the lived experiences of new mothers

To understand how this experience translates into everyday life, TOI reached out to several new mothers. Their names have been kept anonymous, as requested, to protect their privacy.One mother describes how pregnancy and delivery bring constant physical changes that make daily activities difficult. The body, she says, feels in a state of continuous adjustment, and even routine work starts to feel heavier than before.

Postpartum life adds another layer. Lack of sleep, slow recovery, constant tiredness, and new responsibility come together to create a quiet build-up of mental stress in everyday life.At the same time, support makes a difference. A young mother shares that having a supportive family and an understanding partner helps her find small pockets of rest, which feel especially important during this phase.Another mother, in her postpartum phase, describes the emotional shift she experienced after childbirth. She recalls feeling overwhelmed in the early weeks, with sudden mood changes and a sense of emotional instability that took time to understand and accept.She also speaks about the physical and cognitive changes that accompanied this phase, including nausea, mood swings, and forgetfulness. “It’s a phase that changes women completely from start to end,” she says, reflecting on how disorienting the transition felt initially.With time, she says, the journey slowly settled as she grew into motherhood, describing her child as becoming the centre of her world.Another mother talks about the quieter, everyday version of “mommy brain”, forgetfulness, scattered focus, and mental overload that becomes part of daily functioning.“I’ve noticed that my memory and focus aren’t as sharp as they used to be before becoming a mom. I forget small things more often, like why I walked into a room, or what I was about to say mid-conversation,” she says.

She explains it not as a loss of ability, but as divided attention. “In daily life, it feels like my brain always has 10 tabs open. Even when I’m doing one task, there’s a constant background thinking about my baby, feeding, sleep, health, routine. So it’s not exactly that I’ve become less capable, but more like my attention is constantly divided.”Sleep loss, she adds, is one of the biggest triggers, making even simple days feel mentally heavier. She also points to the invisible mental load of motherhood, saying that even when physical help is available, the responsibility of planning, remembering, and anticipating often remains with her.

Over time, she says, it has not disappeared, but it has become easier to navigate. What has helped most, she adds, is learning to slow down, accept imperfection, and speak about what she feels instead of carrying it alone.

What the experts say

To understand whether “mommy brain” is only a perception or a measurable change, TOI spoke to counselling psychologist Ms. Reshmithaa Nair, Sparsh Hospital, Bengaluru, who says it is a widely recognised experience among new mothers, though not a formal clinical diagnosis.“Mommy brain is real as an experience, but it is not considered a formal clinical diagnosis. Most women report forgetfulness, poor attention, and mental fog during pregnancy and postpartum,” she says, adding that research shows mixed findings, with some studies noting mild measurable changes in memory and executive function.

She explains that the most affected areas include memory, attention, working memory, and executive functioning, the mental skills involved in planning, multitasking, and decision-making, largely influenced by hormonal shifts, sleep disruption, and caregiving demands.Importantly, she stresses that this does not indicate a loss of intelligence. Instead, it is a temporary shift in cognitive efficiency and prioritisation as the brain adapts to pregnancy and early motherhood. Neuroimaging studies, she adds, point to brain remodelling rather than decline.Most women see gradual improvement within a few months postpartum, depending on sleep, stress levels, and support. She recommends basic interventions such as rest protection, reducing multitasking, and medical checks if fatigue persists.Adding the psychological perspective, Dr. Radhika Goyal, psychologist and founder of Healthy Nudge, says the experience is shaped by multiple overlapping factors rather than a single cause.“‘Mommy brain’ is very real, and clinically we see it as a combination of biological, psychological, and lifestyle changes happening simultaneously after childbirth. It is rarely caused by one factor alone,” she says.

She highlights sleep deprivation as one of the strongest contributors. Repeated night waking, she explains, directly affects attention, memory, and decision-making. Alongside this, the emotional and cognitive load of caregiving keeps the brain in a constant state of alertness.“The brain remains in a state of hypervigilance. New mothers are constantly monitoring feeding schedules, safety, health concerns, routines, and emotional bonding with the baby,” she adds.Dr. Goyal also points to identity transition as a key psychological shift. Beyond caregiving, mothers are adjusting to an entirely new sense of self.“A woman is not only caring for a baby; she is psychologically adapting to an entirely new role and lifestyle. This transition can create emotional overwhelm, self-doubt, and mental exhaustion,” she explains.Hormonal changes, she adds, further affect mood regulation, stress tolerance, and cognitive clarity, which contributes to feelings of mental fog and emotional overstimulation.Dr. Goyal also emphasises that validation is one of the most powerful forms of support during the postpartum period. She notes that many new mothers are often told that exhaustion and overwhelm are simply “part of motherhood,” which can leave them feeling unseen or emotionally unsupported.

Instead of minimising their experience, she says families should acknowledge that postpartum recovery is physically and psychologically demanding.She adds that practical support is just as important. Mothers are often not only exhausted from childcare but also from carrying the invisible mental load of planning, remembering, anticipating, and organising everything around the baby and household. Partners, she says, can help meaningfully by taking initiative rather than waiting for instructions.She warns against comparisons such as “other mothers manage it” or “this is what women have always done,” noting that such statements often increase shame rather than resilience.“A supported mother is not a weak mother,” she emphasises, adding that psychological support during postpartum recovery directly benefits both maternal mental health and infant wellbeing.

When it may be more than mental exhaustion

While mild forgetfulness and fatigue are common after childbirth, Dr. Goyal cautions that concern arises when symptoms become persistent and begin to affect daily functioning.She explains that postpartum depression and anxiety often present as deeper emotional distress rather than temporary cognitive fatigue.Families should look out for signs such as:

“One of the most overlooked signs is when the mother stops expressing her needs and begins functioning only in survival mode,” she says. “Families often mistake this for strength, when clinically it may indicate emotional shutdown or burnout.”She stresses that early intervention is crucial, adding that postpartum mental health conditions are treatable when identified with empathy rather than judgment. Families must seek professional counselling or medical help when these signs persist.

Why this conversation matters

A mother carries her child not only in her womb but in her heart and mind forever. Long before those little feet learn to walk, they are guarded by an instinct that never switches off. Before tiny fingers learn to grasp food without letting it slip, a mother is already feeding, already anticipating, already giving, and even before the child has a language for the world, a mother already hears him. She goes through pain and tears, blood and fear, to bring a new life into this world, and she never stops caring, her heart intrinsically intertwined with the joy she has brought into being.And yet, this new chapter of life also reshapes the mind in ways that are rarely seen but deeply felt. What is often called “mommy brain” lives in this space where attention is divided, memory feels scattered, and thought is constantly anchored to another life. It is not absence, but an ongoing state of holding, planning, remembering, and caring all at once.But even this experience must be understood with compassion and not expectation or dismissal. Every new mother must be held enough so she can let go of the unseen burden of following the footsteps of an “ideal” mother. She should not be taught to trade her health completely for the sake of being a good mother or to carry shame for needing support or going through mental fog. Alongside the newborn, she too finds herself in a completely altered mind and life and deserves to feel supported, seen, and understood.On Mother’s Day, perhaps the truest celebration lies here, not in perfection or the glorification of a woman as a being who never gets exhausted, but in recognition and honour of everything that continues silently, the cognitive load, the emotional labour, and the recalibration of self that motherhood brings, along with a deeper understanding of what she goes through as a human being, and in supporting and validating her experience.