Rajini fans plan demo to urge actor to reconsider decision

CHENNAI: After virtual initiatives such as “We support Rajini” and “I support Rajini” failed to bring Rajinikanth into electoral politics, a section of the actor’s fans have decided to stage a mass demonstration on coming Sunday to convince him reconsider his decision. During the last couple of days, various WhatsApp groups of fans were flooded with messages over their plan.

The messages read,  “Fans will gather at Valluvar Kottam on coming Sunday and request our leader to come enter  politics.” One of the functionaries of RMM, who is a key person making arrangements for the demonstration, spoke to Express, “We accept the decision of our leader as we respect him. At the same time, he should also respect the sentiments of our cadre, as most of them feel that his decision has hurt them and it would also question his credibility.

Hence, we are making some efforts to convince our leader. Let us see who is going to win -- our leader or our cadre.” He also expressed the hope that at least some thousands will gather at Valluvar Kottam on Sunday. Another functionary said, “The decision by our leader to stay away from politics kept our cadre at bay for a few days. After that, many of them started to put up wall posters across the State urging him to reconsider his decision. Some of them lit lamps outside his house urging him to begin a re-think. 

In some districts, cadres and functionaries of RMM have carried out a signature campaign on why they like Rajinikanth’s alternative politics. In this situation, we have organised a demonstration to convince our leader and to show our strength to all others. We are confident of bringing him into politics. Several games have changed even in the last minute. We believe we still have enough time to change things.” 

SC Sekar, an RMM functionary from delta district, spoke to Express, “We have had the experience of conducting several massive rallies in the past. Last Sunday, thousands of fans  staged a demonstration in Salem. Likewise, we have organised a demonstration and sought police permission too. We expect our protest to be a game-changer in Tamil Nadu politics.”

R Ravichandran, district secretary of South Chennai West unit of RMM, said in a release, “It is learnt that some functionaries of RMM have issued a call for a non-violent demonstration urging our leader to take a political plunge. But, all of our district secretaries had assured our leader that we they would agree with his decision, whatever it may be. Hence, all of them should accept the decision of our leader and wait till the next announcement comes from him.”