New Delhi (TIP): For years, the idea of a Prime Minister emerging from Tamil Nadu remained more a political aspiration than a realistic electoral conversation. Now, barely three months into his tenure as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, C Joseph Vijay has found himself in a space occupied by leaders who have spent decades navigating Indian politics. The actor-turned-politician, who entered politics in 2024, has emerged as the third-most preferred choice for the next Prime Minister of India in the latest India Today-CVoter Mood of the Nation (MOTN) poll.
The finding of the opinion poll is striking not only because of Vijay’s position, but because of the speed with which he has entered the national political imagination. The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) founder secured 9.2% of the respondents’ preference for the next prime minister, placing him behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 48.7% and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at 27.1%.
It is interesting to note that the TVK government in Tamil Nadu has the support of the Congress, and Vijay’s emergence as a PM choice might have come at the expense of Rahul Gandhi.
Vijay was ahead of TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee (2%), Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav (1.7%), Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder and convenor Abhijit Dipke (1.3%) and Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal (1.2%).
The Mood of the Nation is a bi-annual survey that’s been commissioned by the India Today Group for around two decades now. The August 2026 edition was conducted by CVoter with a sample of 25,184 people directly surveyed between July 1 and August 25. Another set of 91,795 interviews conducted over the last six months as part of CVoter’s regular tracking were also used to formulate the findings of the August Mood of the Nation 2026. Vijay’s rise in the survey does not stop at the question of who should become the next prime minister. When respondents were asked which current Opposition leader is best suited to lead the Opposition alliance, Vijay again found himself near the top, securing 12.2% of the vote. He stood just behind Rahul Gandhi, who led with 29%, and ahead of Mamata Banerjee (8.5%), Arvind Kejriwal (7.5%) and Akhilesh Yadav (6.9%).
The findings provide a glimpse into how a politician who is still in the first few months of his first stint in government has quickly expanded his political identity beyond Tamil Nadu.
Vijay’s political journey has moved at a pace rarely seen in Indian politics.
The superstar formally entered politics with the launch of TVK in 2024. Within two years, the party contested its first election, won power in Tamil Nadu and installed Vijay as Chief Minister in 2026. Now, before his government has even completed its first year, his name is being placed alongside established national leaders in a survey measuring the country’s political mood.
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