CHENNAI/SINGAPORE - An actor-turned-politician’s stunning rise to power is being greeted with caution in India’s top manufacturing state Tamil Nadu, home of factories of global manufacturers supplying Apple and Samsung.

Mr Joseph Vijay’s party came first in state elections this week, winning 108 seats in the 234-seat assembly and defeating two parties that have ruled the state for decades. Mr Vijay, 52, has promised to turn Tamil Nadu into a US$1.5 trillion (S$1.9 trillion) economy over the next decade, by sustaining its rapid economic growth.

The state’s economy grew by nearly 11 per cent in the past fiscal year, making it one of the key drivers of India’s overall economic growth.

On May 6, Mr Vijay met the state’s governor, Mr Rajendra Arlekar, as he prepares to form the government and his party entered coalition talks with potential partners.

Many businesses, however, are anxious about his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) party’s lack of political experience as many of its elected candidates are first-timers.

Anti-incumbency, voter fatigue with the decades-old duopoly of the two major established parties, and Mr Vijay’s appeal as a charismatic outsider promising generational change, helped TVK win, analysts and voters said.

“My vote was driven primarily by the desire for political change,” said Mr Sarath Kumar, a young voter from Chennai who switched from a traditional party to TVK.

“My constituency candidate is 31 years old, and that reflects a shift towards giving opportunities to a younger generation,” he said.

Executives across sectors including textile, real estate and technology said they expected broad continuity in economic policy under a TVK-led government, citing the state’s experienced bureaucracy and well-established in...