By Ayesha Khan and Ananya Sharma 
Chennai, March 31: Monday was always going to be a big day for Vijay. He walked into the nomination office at Perambur, signed his papers as C. Joseph Vijay, and made it official he is no longer just a superstar. He is a candidate. And with that, came the one thing his crores of fans had been waiting for and his rivals had been dreading: the numbers.
All of them. Out in the open.
The 27-page notarised Form 26 submitted to the Election Commission of India runs through Vijay’s financial life in the kind of granular detail that even his closest associates probably had not seen laid out in one place. The total? Somewhere in the ballpark of Rs 624 crore, depending on which valuations you read from the filing. Some reports put it slightly higher, some lower. But no matter how you slice it, this is one of the most substantial asset declarations Tamil Nadu’s electoral history has ever seen from a first-time candidate.
Three Decades of Cinema, Converted to Capital
The wealth is not a surprise, exactly. Vijay has been the face of blockbuster Tamil cinema since the late 1990s. Films like Ghilli, Kaththi, and Theri were not just cultural events they were commercial juggernauts. Three decades of top-billing, brand endorsements, and property investments tend to compound.
Still, seeing it itemised is something else.
His movable assets alone cross Rs 404 crore. His immovable holdings land, residential and commercial properties spread across Chennai and an estate in Kodaikanal are valued at roughly Rs 220 crore. Income from FY 2024-25, as per his IT returns, came to Rs 184.53 crore, drawn from self-employment, interest, and rental income. That is income from a year in which he did not release a single major film.
The bank deposits are where things get genuinely eye-opening. He reportedly holds Rs 213 crore at Indian Overseas Bank and another Rs 53 crore at Axis Bank. For a man sitting on over Rs 265 crore in bank deposits across accounts, the declaration of Rs 2 lakh in physical cash reads almost like a dry joke. But that is what the affidavit says, and that is what goes on record.
His vehicles are a study in contrasts. A 2024 BMW i7. A Toyota Lexus 350. A Toyota Vellfire. And then, sitting quietly at the end of the list a TVS XL moped, purchased last year, for Rs 67,000. Vijay’s people almost certainly knew what they were doing including that one.
The Loans, the Trust Funds, and the One Figure That Stands Out
One of the more layered sections of the affidavit is the loans register. Vijay has extended money to a wide network of people and institutions. Rs 20 crore to the Kokilambal Educational Trust. Rs 20 crore to A L P Antonious Britto. Rs 5.84 crore to the Vidya Charitable Trust. Rs 3 crore to TVK General Secretary N Anand. Rs 3.02 crore to his father, S A Chandrasekar. Small sums to his mother and his children.
And then: Rs 12.6 crore to his wife, Sangeetha.
That figure requires context. Because Sangeetha Sornalingam is not simply Vijay’s wife at this point. She is, legally speaking, the petitioner in a divorce case being heard at the District Court in Chengalpattu. She filed for dissolution of their marriage solemnised on August 25, 1999 under the Special Marriage Act, 1954, in late February of this year. The next hearing is scheduled for April 20, which is, incidentally, just three days before Tamil Nadu votes.
Her petition, as reported by multiple outlets including Live Law and Asianet Newsable, alleges infidelity and mental cruelty. She claims she discovered an alleged relationship between Vijay and an actress in April 2021, an allegation that he has not publicly addressed. She also alleges that following this discovery, he withdrew emotionally, curtailed her financial independence, and made sustained attempts to isolate her. The petition, according to reports citing court documents, states that the marriage “survives only on paper.”
None of this has been adjudicated. Vijay has not responded to these specific allegations on record. The matter is before a court.
But the financial picture inside the affidavit is what draws the eye right now. Sangeetha declared assets totalling Rs 15.76 crore Rs 15.51 crore in movable assets and Rs 25 lakh in immovable property. Against Vijay’s Rs 624 crore, the gap is considerable. The Rs 12.6 crore loan to her from Vijay raises questions that divorce lawyers will likely spend considerable time on in the months ahead.
The Property Sale Nobody Has Fully Explained Yet
Before Monday, there was already a subplot running in the background. Reports including detailed accounts from Filmibeat based on sources close to the matter had indicated that Vijay sold properties worth approximately Rs 35 crore in March 2026, reportedly in some haste. The stated reason, according to sources cited at the time, was not to fund TVK’s campaign. It was, per these accounts, connected to the divorce proceedings and a possible need to reduce the asset footprint before nomination filing.
The legal logic, as laid out by sources in those reports, was this: if Sangeetha declined to voluntarily co-sign the asset disclosures which spouses are required to participate in under Election Commission norms it could have given a Returning Officer grounds to reject Vijay’s nomination. Liquidating certain properties removed them from the assets list entirely.
Vijay’s legal team has not confirmed this reasoning publicly. The nomination was accepted on Monday. So whatever the legal strategy was, it appears to have worked.
Income Tax and the Puli Problem
The affidavit does not pretend everything is clean. There are pending Income Tax demands listed, stemming from a 2015 IT search, and Vijay is candid enough to include them rather than leave gaps. The disputes include Rs 91.36 lakh for AY 2011-12, Rs 88.96 lakh for AY 2015-16, and a more significant Rs 1.5 crore penalty tied to the same assessment year connected, per reports citing the affidavit, to alleged income concealment linked to the film Puli. The Madras High Court upheld that penalty in February 2026, though it left the door open for an appeal to the ITAT.
An additional Rs 14.13 lakh dispute for AY 2022-23 is currently pending before the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals).
These are not existential liabilities for a man declaring Rs 624 crore in assets. But they are there. And in an election where Vijay’s clean image is his central selling point, opponents will not let them go unmentioned.
What Zero Criminal Cases Actually Means Here
On the criminal record front, the affidavit is spotless. No pending cases. No convictions. In Tamil Nadu, where political affidavits are sometimes essentially catalogues of legal exposure, that blank space is genuinely significant.
It feeds directly into the argument TVK has been building since Vijay launched the party in February 2024 that he represents a different kind of politician. Anti-dynastic. Youth-oriented. Financially independent. Unbeholden to the networks that, as he puts it, have kept Tamil Nadu’s politics locked in the same family arrangements for generations.
MK Stalin, for context, declared combined assets of just Rs 9.70 crore in his own affidavit, along with the note that he does not own a vehicle. That contrast Rs 9.70 crore versus Rs 624 crore is already being deployed in different directions by different political camps. DMK loyalists frame it as a reminder of where real political roots lie. TVK supporters counter that a wealthy candidate is less likely to be tempted by corruption.
Neither side is entirely wrong.
Perambur, the Seat, and What Vijay Actually Has to Do
All of this financial disclosure matters, but it does not vote. Perambur does.
The constituency sits in north Chennai, historically a DMK stronghold with a predominantly working-class voter base. Over two lakh registered voters. Its residents deal with real, grinding civic problems infrastructure gaps, waterlogging, patchy public services. Vijay himself raised these very issues in his roadshow address after filing, asking the crowd directly whether what they were living through reflected proper governance.
That roadshow, incidentally, was chaotic. Massive crowds packed roads across north Chennai, junctions at Moolakadai and Thiru Vi Ka Nagar were gridlocked for hours, and what was meant to be a short campaign stretch reportedly took nearly two hours. TVK formally complained to the Chief Electoral Officer, accusing authorities of failing to manage traffic and security despite prior permission for the event.
It was, whether by design or accident, one of the more vivid displays of political enthusiasm Tamil Nadu has seen in years. Vijay’s people know their candidate’s draw. What they do not yet know is whether that draw translates into votes when April 23 arrives.
He is also contesting from Trichy East a second seat in the Cauvery delta region, which speaks to TVK’s ambition to not just make noise in Chennai but establish genuine statewide footing.
The Numbers Are Out. Now Comes the Harder Part.
The affidavit has done what affidavits do: it placed facts into the public record. The Rs 624 crore is now a number that belongs to the political conversation of Tamil Nadu’s 2026 election, and it will be discussed, dissected, and weaponised by multiple parties between now and polling day.
What the document cannot capture what no document can is how Vijay’s extraordinary financial life and his very public personal complications will settle in the minds of working-class voters in Perambur and working-class families across 234 constituencies where TVK has fielded candidates.
The Rs 67,000 moped is on the affidavit. So is the Rs 12.6 crore loan to a wife who is suing him for divorce. Tamil Nadu’s voters will decide what to make of both.
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Covers films, television, streaming, and celebrity culture with a focus on storytelling trends.
- Ayesha Khan
- Ayesha Khan
- Ayesha Khan
- Ayesha Khan
Covers Indian politics, governance, and policy developments with over a decade of experience in political reporting.
- Ananya Sharma
- Ananya Sharma
- Ananya Sharma
- Ananya Sharma
Ananya Sharma