Tamil film’s super star Rajinikanth, who was expected to make an important declaration on Thursday regarding the launch of his proposed political party made it known that he was not in a hurry and also he would never be the Chief Minister of the State.
“Had I wanted, I would have become the Chief Minister in 1996 at the age of 45. Why should I aspire for a post which I had declined 24 years ago?” he asked while speaking to journalists at Chennai on Thursday. The reigning star of South Indian films asked the people of the State to create an environment whereby his idea of governance and Government could be implemented. “If only the people accept the kind of politics which I want, we will be able to make any change. Otherwise it will be like cooking Chakkarai Pongal (a sweet Tamil delicacy) in the same pot where Meen Kuzhambu (fish curry) had been cooked,” said Rajinikanth.
Explaining the rationale behind his decision not to accept the post of Chief Minister, Rajinikanth said preferred Tamil Nadu to be the role model for other States in the country.
“The Chief Minister should be one who is fully devoted to the matters affecting the State and he/she should not be burdened with other tasks. It was in Tamil Nadu we brought a regional party (DMK) to power defeating the Congress for the first time in the country’s history. My idea of a chief minister’s job is different from that of a conventional political boss. My idea of politics is that the party president and Chief Minister should be different persons.,” explained Rajinikanth.
He also disclosed that more than 50 per cent of the posts in his party as well as the cabinet would be reserved for people below the age of 50 and who has professional qualifications. “We will rope in retired bureaucrats and professionals for advisory jobs. Ours will not be a political party of professional politicians,” he said.
The actor set preconditions for his entry into the unknown terrain of politics. “As on today, Tamil Nadu is dominated by two Jambavans, two entities with all resources available in the world. The AIADMK and the DMK. While the DMK has been out of power for the last ten years, it is bestowed with men and infrastructure. The AIADMK is in charge of public treasury and is in a position to manipulate the way people think,” he said.
According to Rajinikanth, there are 50,000 office bearers working all over Tamil Nadu in both the DMK as well as the AIADMK. “This is the root cause of corruption and I want that system to go. Politics should not be for making money but it should be for public welfare,” he said.
He asked the people of Tamil Nadu to set the agenda and prepare the ground for the revolutionary change envisaged by him. “Then we will think about the politics and governance,” he said.
Maalan Narayanan, Tamil Nadu’s leading author and political commentator who has been tracking the course of Rajinikanth’s political journey, described the actor’s Thursday announcement as a tacit withdrawal from the battle field. “It is like one step forward and two steps backward.
Rajinikanth’s concept of politics is the same that was preached by Mahatma Gandhi but I doubt whether it would materialise in the near future. There is lot of difference between practical politics and pragmatics. I feel chances are that he may end up like his advisor Tamilaruvi Manian, who too harps on value based politics,” Maalan told The Pioneer.
Kolahala Srenivaas, political observer, was blunt in his observation that Rajinikanth would not take any hasty decision. “He has set the ground for his withdrawal from politics. I don’t think people in Tamil Nadu would be able to provide him what he has asked for in return for his entry into politics; revolution, upsurge and wave.
The election is hardly one year away and you would not be able to do anything in this short span of time,” said Srenivaas, who like Maalan was analysing threadbare all moves by the actor.
