Rajinikanth announces his entry into politics
Indian film superstar Rajinikanth today announced his entry into politics and decision to form a party, marking the rise of another star in southern India's political sky.
Rajinikanth, 67, told a meeting of his fans in Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu, that he was taking the political plunge as politics and governance in Tamil Nadu had become so bad that the state has become a laughing stock, reports our New Delhi correspondent.
The actor, known as 'Thalaivar,' the 'Ultimate Boss' to his fans, said it was time to change the government and the system in the state dominated for long by two Dravidian parties, All India Anna Dravidra Munnetra Kazagham once led by another Tamil film star Jairam Jayalalithaa, and Dravida Munnetra Kazagham headed by K Karunanidhi who was a script writer in Tamil cinema.
"I will do my duty... it is time. We will change the system," the actor said amidst lusty cheers from his fans, adding "if I don't make this decision now... the guilt will haunt me".
Rajinikanth said his party will contest all the legislative assembly and parliamentary elections in the state slated for 2021 and 2019 respectively. Rajinikanth said he knows it was not going to be easy but it had to be done.
"I did not have political ambitions when I was 45, so will I have it when I'm 68? I am not doing this for any post. I do not come for money or fame, as I have enough of it. But the politics has become so bad that rest of the world is laughing at us," Rajinikanth said.
Rajinikanth said he will resign from his party in case he fails to live up to his promises in three years. "We will start a party when the elections come. We'll tell what we are about to do to the people and also tell that we will resign if we haven't accomplished our promises within three years. I want our welfare societies to be in every street. That's the first task. Let's us not talk politics until then."
The death of Jayalalithaa also sparked a debilitating power struggle within the state's ruling AIADMK over the last one year that saw a split between Chief Minister E Palaniswami and his predecessor O Panneerselvam and a patch-up between the two factions.
The merged AIADMK lost a key assembly bypoll recently from a constituency, once represented by Jayalalithaa, to party rebel TTV Dhinakaran, the nephew of Jayalalithaa's closest aide VK Sasikala, who had laid claim on the legacy of the former Chief Minister.
In 1996, Rajinikanth had asked the people to support the DMK government and not opponent Jayalalithaa, famously declaring "even God can't save Tamil Nadu if Jayalalithaa comes back to power again". The DMK swept the state polls in 1996 but later the superstar later described as "a mistake and an accident".
AIADMK is in power in Tamil Nadu for the last six years at a stretch having won the previous elections to the state assembly just a year ago. Elections to assemblies in all Indian states, except Jammu and Kashmir, are held for a five-year tenure.
This is the second time in the last two months that two super stars of Tamil cinema made their entry into politics. The other superstar Kamal Haasan made his much-anticipated political foray last month. Haasan today congratulated Rajinikanth.
The death of iconic leader Jayalalithaa, another star of Tamil cinema, in December last year, is seen by political analysts to have create a big void in the state's politics.