Rajinikanth to announce political plans tomorrow

Tamil superstar Rajinikanth is finally expected to spell out the plans for his official political plunge on Thursday. Days after he said that he was not willing to personally contest elections, superstar Rajinikanth has once again set alarm bells ringing in Tamil Nadu.

“We have been called for yet another round of meeting with our Thalaivar. We have been informed that Thalaivar will discuss with us his political plans, launch of party, date of launch and what will be the party’s ideology. His political plans and the announcement will definitely shake-up state politics,” a Rajini Makkal Mandram (RMM) district secretary who has invited for the meeting told THE WEEK, on conditions of anonymity. The RMM functionaries received an oral invite from the superstar to discuss about his political plans on Tuesday night.

Sources also said he is likely to reveal the party structure and indicate his alliance plans. Over the last week, he has held meetings with several political party representatives, his well-wishers and political observers in the state after he announced his unwillingness to be the chief minister, if elected.

Since March 5, after he held the second round of meeting with RMM’s district functionaries, political circles in Tamil Nadu have been abuzz with discussions about his political entry. Though he wants to head the party, which he is expected to launch soon, he does not want to personally contest elections or become the chief minister. Since there was a huge opposition to Rajinikanth’s view of not leading the government, the superstar told the media that he was 'personally disturbed with one thing' during the earlier meeting with RMM officials. “I will tell what that one thing is when times comes,” he had said. Though there were expectations for Rajinikanth to take an active political plunge since 1996, the stakes have gone high in the last two years. He had said: “There is a political vacuum in Tamil Nadu created after Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi. I will fill the leadership vacuum.”

Sources said that his political well-wishers like Tamilaruvimanian, Karate R. Thiyagarajan, Se Ku Tamilarasan and Congress party’s Su Thirunavukkarasu who called on Rajinikanth in the past few days have asked him not to give up on the idea of being chief minister.

The March 5 meeting which was expected to talk about the current political situation and spell out clear guidelines for his yet-to-be launched party, ended up as a disappointment. It only exhibited his indecisiveness. It also revealed the superstar’s reluctance to get into electoral politics. “Rajinikanth told me that he is launching the political party to bring in change in politics. This change can be achieved only if he stays out of the government and runs it. His only intention is to form a people’s government and wants to separate the party from the government,” Tamilaruvi Manian said while speaking at a meeting in Villupuram on March 8. Though his supporters and sympathisers have been pushing him to take an active political plunge soon, Rajinikanth seems to have lost it even before the beginning. The reason being the delay and his failure to hone his decision-making skills. “The problem is he does not want to antagonise anyone. This is not possible in politics. He is more a spiritualist than a politician,” said one of his political advisers who does not want to be named. But the adviser confirms that Rajinikanth, as promised, will launch his party ahead of the general assembly elections and will tour the state to meet people.

However, political experts in the state who have been tracking Rajinikanth for the past 20 years said that he has been reluctant from day one and the reluctance still continues. For Rajinikanth, the challenges in the current political situation are very high. Having propounded a new concept called “spiritual politics”, he will have to spell out this new concept. And more importantly, Rajinikanth will have to create a secular mindset among the people by eschewing the saffron image on him. More importantly, Rajinikanth’s challenges in converting his RMM into a political outfit are high, as he is no MGR and his fans are no followers like MGR’s, who always had their ears on the ground.

As each of his RMM officer bearer will be political novice, devising political strategies based on ground information may also be a challenge for Rajinikanth. Also devising poll strategies with the existing set of advisers may not bring him fortunes.

But stakes are very high for the March 12 meeting, as he is expected to reveal what his fans, supporters and sympathisers have been waiting to hear for over two decades.