Chennai: Nearly a fortnight after actor Rajinikanth opted out of political entry citing his health and the COVID-19 pandemic, hundreds of his fans assembled near Valluvar Kottam in Chennai to urge him to reconsider his decision.
Although the Rajini Makkal Mandram, the official pre-political platform of the actor, had distanced itself from the demonstration and urged fans not to attend it, a crowd of supporters participated in it from morning till evening on Sunday.
The crowd raised slogans such as ‘Va Thalaiva Va’ (Come leader, come) and ‘Ippo Ilaina, Epovume Illai’ (If not now, never – borrowing his slogan) to urge him to enter politics and “liberate Tamil Nadu”.
While some sections of observers saw this as an organic protest by fans who had full faith in the actor, another section felt that the protest was orchestrated to “pressure” the superstar to take the plunge.
Rajinikanth had done several flip-flops when it came to his political foray. In fact, barely three weeks prior to calling off his political debut, he had declared that he was prepared to sacrifice his life and enter politics.
“I want our leader to come. If he enters politics, definitely he will win irrespective of whether he campaigns extensively or not. He should realise his power and reconsider his decision not to enter politics. That is the only way Tamil Nadu can be liberated,” claimed ‘Rajini’ Siva, a fan, who uses the star’s name as a prefix to his own name.
An observer said that it would be better if the actor sticks to his decision bidding goodbye to political entry as otherwise he will be seen as an oscillator and lose his credibility.
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