Watch: 'Hologram Vijay' comes to TVK chief's aid for campaigning
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Chennai (PTI): In a move that has redefined the landscape of political campaigning in Tamil Nadu, TVK candidate for Kumbakonam, Vinoth Ravi, has deployed a 3D hologram of actor-turned-politician Vijay to reach voters across the state for the April 23 Assembly elections.
The technology made its debut in the Kumbakonam Assembly constituency on April 12.
A life-sized, high-definition digital projection of TVK chief appeared alongside the party’s local candidate. Visuals from the ground showed the "Hologram Vijay" delivering a synchronised speech from a campaign vehicle, creating an illusion of physical presence that drew crowds.
Vijay Chandran, TVK's Thanjavur district treasurer, said they decided to do this when an acquaintance of his was telling him about the possibility of 3D hologram.
According to Chandran, the move is a strategic response to the gruelling schedule of covering 200-plus constituencies that TVK is competing from.
"We realised that it is not possible for our Thalaivar (TVK chief Vijay) to go to all the constituencies. We were thinking about how best we can bring to people about his message. I remembered Praveen K, a third-year student of AI and Data Science, who was telling me about hologram marketing. The hologram initiative allows our leader to be omnipresent, ensuring that voters in every corner of the state can experience his address directly, even as he physically attends high-stakes rallies elsewhere," Chandran told PTI.
TVK candidate in Kumbakonam uses a full hologram of Vijay…. pic.twitter.com/eWooTr2EKk
— Vasudha Venugopal (@Vasudha156) April 13, 2026
Praveen, all of 20, said he runs a part-time marketing agency and had developed a demo product for hologram marketing.
"We created about a 50-sec AI video of a speech by Vijay, which we then projected as hologram. It took us about three days to get that done," he said, adding that he is getting a lot of requests ever since the video of the hologram campaigning started circulating online.
"Not just TVK, but also AIADMK representatives are asking me to make such videos for them," Praveen said.
A native of Kumbakonam, who will be voting for the first time, but is not sure yet as to who he will vote for, Praveen said, given the market situation right now, it will cost anywhere between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 3 lakh for hologram campaign.
Political analysts view this "AI-first" approach as a deliberate attempt to capture the youth vote and distinguish TVK from the traditional roadshow-heavy strategies of the DMK and AIADMK.
Meanwhile, the "real" Vijay continues his sporadic physical campaigns. He was last seen on April 12 in Kanyakumari district, seeking support for six candidates.
The Election Commission had granted a focused six-hour window, from 2 pm to 8 pm. Before Kanyakumari, he had gone to Karaikudi on April 10, but returned without making a speech due to lack of time.
Typically, in a day, politicians go to anywhere between four and five constituencies to campaign for candidates, mostly via road. However, Vijay usually flies from Chennai to the nearest airport where the campaign meeting is scheduled. He then does a road show to the venue.
The hologram campaign follows a series of experimental attempts by local cadres to maintain the leader's presence. Earlier, in Thiruverumbur, candidate Navalpattu Viji resorted to using a Vijay mannequin to bridge the physical gap. Sometime ago, an unverified picture was circulated in various social media platforms in which 100s of such mannequins were standing inside the TVK office in Pannaiyur, Chennai.
It is also widely reported that Vijay lookalikes are now being sought after to stand in for TVK chief. One such campaign that went viral is that of Kolathur TVK candidate V S Babu, who will be taking on Chief Minister M K Stalin, among others.
Tamil Nadu will see polling in all its 234 constituencies on April 23.
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Karnataka issues nutrition advisory for govt events; recommends millets, healthier options
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Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka government on Monday issued a nutrition advisory recommending healthier food and beverage options at meetings, functions, and other official gatherings held in the state.
The advisory has been issued by the Department of Karnataka Health and Family Welfare Services to promote healthy dietary and nutritional habits among officials and staff, noting that food, refreshments and beverages served in government offices and official programmes are "often not aligned with nutrition standards."
The advisory recommends serving snacks such as millet-based, low-fat and low-sugar foods, fresh fruits, vegetable salads, sprouts, roasted nuts and seeds during in-house office meetings and breaks.
Beverages such as green tea, low-fat buttermilk, and locally filtered or boiled water served in glass bottles or steel flasks have also been suggested.
According to the advisory, for larger government events, conferences and exhibitions, departments have been advised to include at least one millet-based item during snacks and a minimum of two millet dishes in meals, along with local cuisine and at least one regional recipe.
It also recommends the use of brown rice instead of white rice, freshly prepared vegetable salads, and fresh fruits or low-sugar fruit juices.
If non-vegetarian food is served, it should consist of well-cooked lean or white meat, the advisory stated.
In eateries operating within government office campuses, the department has recommended millet-based foods, fresh vegetable salads, boiled pulses such as horse gram or chickpeas, and low-fat beverages.
It suggests serving food using reusable metal plates and glasses.
The advisory also recommends avoiding microwave-heated food, industrially processed food, fried snacks, high-fat or heavily spiced dishes, carbonated drinks, high-sugar fruit juices, and alcoholic beverages.
It further discourages serving milk-based tea or coffee and plastic-bottled water during official events.
“Overall, hygiene and cleanliness should be maintained while serving food and water. Local cottage industries, self-help groups, prison kitchens, nutri-gardens and others should be preferred for placing food and beverage orders,” the advisory added.
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