Agencies, Chennai

Tamil film star Rajinikanth on Tuesday described Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was elected for a second term, as a charismatic leader and said he would attend his swearing-in ceremony on May 30.

Talking to reporters outside his Poes garden residence here, he said
the BJP’s sweeping victory in the recent Lok Sabha polls was a victory for Mr Modi.

‘It is a victory for Modi. He is a charismatic and popular leader after
Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv and A B Vajpayee’, Rajinikanth said and
confirmed that he would attend the searing in ceremony or Mr Modi at New Delhi on May 30 when he would assume office as Prime Minister for a second term.

On BJP’s loss in Tamil Nadu, he said there was an anti-Modi wave in
the State and issues like hydrocarbon and others had its effect. On reports that Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s offer to step down in
the wake of severe drubbing in the polls, Rajini said he should not step down.

Asserting that running and guiding a party was not an easy task, he said he (Rahul) should not resign. He should prove that he could do it. ‘In a democracy the opposition should also be strong’, he added.

Rajini also congratulated his friend and actor-politician Kamal Haasan for bagging a good number of votes in the Lok Sabha and Assembly bypoll.

On Union Minister Nitin Gadkari’s proposal for inter-linking of Krishna-Godavari and Cauvery rivers to provide water for Tamil Nadu, Rajini welcomed it and hoped that it would be taken up soon.