Many younger voters fervently believed Vijay would come first in the election even as many opinion polls and exit polls put him at third place. They were proved right.

“His was a campaign conducted almost fully on social media and spearheaded by young people who though form only one-fifth of the electorate. It wouldn’t be a joke to say that Mr. Vijay won where 5G penetration was better,” says R. Kannan, biographer of Annadurai and M.G. Ramachandran, former chief ministers of Tamil Nadu. Mr. Kannan added this was an anti-establishment vote that drew in older people too, who wanted to roll back the near dominance of the DMK and family rule in Tamil life.