While addressing his fans last Friday when he had made it known that his entry into politics was imminent, Rajinikanth, the superstar of Tamil films had declared that there would be opposition to his new avatar.
“There will be opposition to me. But it is this opposition which is going to be my capital,” Rajinikanth had declared on Friday.
By Monday, a group of Tamil chauvinists proved him right by staging a demonstration in Chennai’s Cathedral Road (Dr Radhakrishnan Saalai) which leads to the Poes Garden area where the actor has his house. More than fifty people belonging to a hitherto unheard Tamil outfit staged a demonstration on the arterial Mount Road in Chennai against Rajinikanth’s decision to enter politics.
Though they had decided to stage a march to Poes Garden through Cathedral Road, the police prevented them from taking out the procession and took into custody 28 people for creating law and order problems. The Tamil activists had burnt an effigy of the actor before the police could take up position and barricade the roads.
The Tamil zealots who still swear by slain lTTE chief V Prabhakaran’s name questioned the locus standii of Rajinikanth in Tamil Nadu politics. “He is not a Tamilan. How can he lead usIJ” asked the demonstrators.
Interestingly, the three personalities who donned the role of Chief Minister since 1967 were non real Tamils. While Karunanidhi’s mother tongue is Telugu, MG Ramachandran spoke Malayalam and Jayalali-
thaa’s mother tongue was Kannada.
The announcement by Rajinikanth had rattled some of the political leaders in the State and this became evident in their immediate reaction to the speech delivered by the former. Though Rajinikanth had waxed eloquence on MK Stalin (DMK), Dr Anbumani Rama-
doss (PMK), Thol Thirumav-
alavan (VCK) and Seeman (Naam Tamizhar), it evoked only cold response from these leaders.
The BJP in Tamil Nadu, struggling to get a foothold in the State, was upset that the actor did not name Prime Minister Narendra Modi thou-
gh he listed Stalin, Anbumani, Seeman and Thirumavalavan as visionary leaders.
The ruling AIADMK too made it known that Rajinikanth would pose no problems for the party.
“Film actors like Sivaji Ganesan, Bhagyaraj who had considerable fan following could not make any impact in Tamil Nadu politics. We do not feel Rajinikanth would be able to make any impact though we welcome his decision,” said Selur K Raju, Minister for Cooperation while speaking to reporters on Monday.
In another development,
it was announced that
Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami will be rushing
to New Delhi for a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The announcement comes in the backdrop of the meeting the PM had with former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and amidst reports about a possible meeting between Rajinikanth and the Prime Minister.