Months before the Lok Sabha polls, when the opposition parties in the country began talking about Mahagathbandhan, superstar Rajinikanth threw his weight behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the latter was “stronger” than “10 people” aligning against him. Now, the actor-politician has come out, hailing Modi as a “charismatic leader”.
“This victory is a victory for Modi. He is a charismatic leader in India after Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi,” Rajinikath told the reporters gathered in front of his Poes Garden residence in Chennai to get his reactions on the BJP’s landslide victory. Rajinikanth will be attending Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony in Delhi on Thursday. Both Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan have been invited for the event.
Last week, Rajinikanth had tweeted, congratulating Modi on his massive mandate. “Respected dear Narendra Modiji, Hearty congratulations. You made it…. God bless,” he had said.
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Modi, in turn, thanked the actor, and later came the invitation to attend the swearing-in ceremony.
Although there is much anti-Modi sentiment in Tamil Nadu as evinced by the poll results, Rajinikanth has always been a good friend of Modi. Just before the 2014 elections, when Rajinikanth’s neighbour Jayalalithaa did not accommodate the BJP, the superstar was a friendly host to Modi who had visited him then.
Months before the Lok Sabha polls, even as Rajinikanth made it clear that he would not pledge his support for any political party, he had asked his fans and followers to vote for a party who had stood by the state to resolve the water crisis. The state unit of the BJP was quick to claim that he was referring to the BJP.
The ambitious 68-year old superstar has always sent out mixed signals regarding his active plunge into politics. He launched his Rajini Makkal Mandram (RMM) in 2018, and has since then been working with RMM office bearers to turn it into a political movement. He had held several rounds of meetings with RMM office bearers in 2018.
