Rajnikanth finally ended the long drawn suspense and
took the much-awaited political plunge on Sunday on
a war footing. While Rajni blew the political bugle,
thousands of jubilant fans broke into song and dance
at Chennai's Raghavendra Kalyana Mandapam and
social media went abuzz wishing the iconic actor all the luck.
Nicknamed ‘Thalaivar' literally meaning ‘Ultimate Boss',
Rajni is virtually seen as a demi god among his huge legion of
followers. He has made his intentions clear right from the word
go saying that no one can stand in his way and that he plans to
contest all the 234 seats in Tamil Nadu when the State goes to
polls in 2021.
Political successes are built on truthfulness and trust of the
people (our editorial on Monday "bridges of truthfulness and
trust need to be built if government has to connect with the
common man in Goa"). Rajni has precisely emphasized on politics
of truth, accountability and transparency and politics not
based on caste or cash.
Rajni doesn't want to tread the
path taken by political parties and
would want his party workers to be
‘watchdogs' and not cadres, while
at the same time preferring not to
clearly define his political policies at
this point in time. For now, the primary
objective would be to get in a
lot of people's participation and not firing the canon on politics
and politicians.
What would work in Rajni's favour is his easy-going style of
functioning and acceptability across sections, which includes
even the BJP which had approached him earlier to join the party.
There seems to be no hurry to jump the political bandwagon
too and the superstar has put the entire focus on party building
rather than going into an overdrive. He will bank on his huge
fan base to take his party forward.
The electoral field opened up to Thalaivar after the merged
AIADMK lost the RK Nagar seat, which was earlier represented
by Jayalalithaa, to sidelined rebel TTV Dhinakaran, the nephew
of Jayalalithaa's closest aide VK Sasikala. However, the political
maneouvers in Tamil Nadu began last December soon
after the death of AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa's. A political
vacuum was clearly visible as factions of AIADMK jostled for
power. It was only in May that Rajni, who was toying with the
idea since long, threw broad hints saying "If God wills it, I will
enter politics tomorrow".
Rajni is firm in his resolve to cleanse the system of corruption,
the single biggest factor that has corroded the foundations
of democracy. The 67-year-old Tamil legend's statement
on quitting if his party fails to deliver on promises in three years
sounds very challenging. Truth, work and growth are the three
mantras of his party but all eyes would be on his winning strategy
which he is yet to unbox. All said and done, Tamil Nadu's
politics appears headed for a change.
took the much-awaited political plunge on Sunday on
a war footing. While Rajni blew the political bugle,
thousands of jubilant fans broke into song and dance
at Chennai's Raghavendra Kalyana Mandapam and
social media went abuzz wishing the iconic actor all the luck.
Nicknamed ‘Thalaivar' literally meaning ‘Ultimate Boss',
Rajni is virtually seen as a demi god among his huge legion of
followers. He has made his intentions clear right from the word
go saying that no one can stand in his way and that he plans to
contest all the 234 seats in Tamil Nadu when the State goes to
polls in 2021.
Political successes are built on truthfulness and trust of the
people (our editorial on Monday "bridges of truthfulness and
trust need to be built if government has to connect with the
common man in Goa"). Rajni has precisely emphasized on politics
of truth, accountability and transparency and politics not
based on caste or cash.
Rajni doesn't want to tread the
path taken by political parties and
would want his party workers to be
‘watchdogs' and not cadres, while
at the same time preferring not to
clearly define his political policies at
this point in time. For now, the primary
objective would be to get in a
lot of people's participation and not firing the canon on politics
and politicians.
What would work in Rajni's favour is his easy-going style of
functioning and acceptability across sections, which includes
even the BJP which had approached him earlier to join the party.
There seems to be no hurry to jump the political bandwagon
too and the superstar has put the entire focus on party building
rather than going into an overdrive. He will bank on his huge
fan base to take his party forward.
The electoral field opened up to Thalaivar after the merged
AIADMK lost the RK Nagar seat, which was earlier represented
by Jayalalithaa, to sidelined rebel TTV Dhinakaran, the nephew
of Jayalalithaa's closest aide VK Sasikala. However, the political
maneouvers in Tamil Nadu began last December soon
after the death of AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa's. A political
vacuum was clearly visible as factions of AIADMK jostled for
power. It was only in May that Rajni, who was toying with the
idea since long, threw broad hints saying "If God wills it, I will
enter politics tomorrow".
Rajni is firm in his resolve to cleanse the system of corruption,
the single biggest factor that has corroded the foundations
of democracy. The 67-year-old Tamil legend's statement
on quitting if his party fails to deliver on promises in three years
sounds very challenging. Truth, work and growth are the three
mantras of his party but all eyes would be on his winning strategy
which he is yet to unbox. All said and done, Tamil Nadu's
politics appears headed for a change.
