Former Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin took to social media to congratulate actor-politician Vijay on the latter's victory at the Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections. But after facing some backlash online for his congratulatory post for Vijay, which criticised the cricketer's political leanings based on his caste, Ashwin subsequently addressed it on social media.
Initially the cricketer took to his X handle and wrote, "Naalaiya Theerpu to Netraiya Theerpu!! Congratulations to Thalapathy and his party for the fabulous result. Good luck & I would love to go from being your super fan to a leader I would want to follow for what lies ahead."
Later a social media user wrote, "A Brahmin who is afraid of Dravidian rule." Ashwin addressed this user and wrote, "Have said it once, i will say it again! Who I was born to wasn’t my choice, thankfully I was born to parents that are beyond great. Leadership is feeling empathetic towards another person’s struggles and enabling growth beyond barriers & that’s what my parents & teachers have taught me. I want to live till the day, we stop talking about lineage or caste."
For Vijay the recently ended election cycle is his first time competing in an election. Under his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) party, the actor-politician contested in the Perambur and Tiruchirappalli East constituencies, and won in both.
Vijay is retiring from films for a career in politics, with his final release being H Vinoth's Jana Nayagan. The film also stars Pooja Hegde, Bobby Deol, Mamitha Baiju, among others.
