'System must change': Rajinikanth to float party, contest TN elections

Rajinikanth said hard work, the ideal of public service and honesty would be the cornerstones of the party he would launch

Amid the political turmoil and vacuum created by J Jayalalithaa's demise and M Karunanidhi's ill-health, filmstar Rajinikanth on Sunday announced his foray into politics with plans to launch his own political party at an "appropriate time". The actor, who had been dilly-dallying about his political debut for several years now, added that his party would contest all the 234 seats in Tamil Nadu in the next Assembly elections in 2021. 

Addressing his fans at the Raghavendra marriage hall in Chennai, 67-year-old Rajinikanth said a lot has happened in Tamil Nadu in the past one year and that "all other states are laughing at us". "My political entry is definite. I will form a party and contest all constituencies in Tamil Nadu in the next Assembly elections," he added.

"I am not entering politics for post or position. If I wanted those, I would have got them in 1996 itself. The system has to change. Democracy has been corrupted and needs to be cleansed," he said.

Hard work, the ideal of public service and honesty would be the cornerstones of the party, he said. It will be an honest and casteless politics, which he later called spiritual politics. Rajinikanth said he would contest the next (2021) Assembly elections and would field candidates in all the 234 Assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu. Further, he said the decision on contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha polls would be taken when the time was apt.

The Tamil star, who will be joining the club of the film industry fraternity that has been ruling the state for the past 50 years and more, said democracy was in bad shape right now. "All other states have been making fun of us (Tamil Nadu). I will feel guilty if I don't take this decision now. In the name of democracy, politicians are robbing us of our own money in our own land. We need to bring a change from the base," he added.

"From the days of kings and rulers looting other countries and kingdoms, we have come to a level where rulers are looting their own country. Truth, work, and growth will be the three mantras of our party," said Rajinikanth.

His announcement comes at a time when Tamil Nadu politics is facing a major leadership crisis, with the demise of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) supremo J Jayalalithaa in December 2016 and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader M Karunanidhi retiring from active politics due to ill-health almost a year back.

Another noted film star, Kamal Haasan, who recently announced a new party as part of his entry into politics, has welcomed Rajinikanth's decision. "Congratulations for my brother Rajini for his social consciousness and political entry. Welcome, welcome," he commented on his twitter account. Haasan, after his announcement, has been silent on politics and works related to the party so far. Another actor, Vishal, also expressed his political ambition recently by submitting his nomination paper to contest in the R K Nagar Assembly constituency, though it was rejected by the authorities on technical grounds. 

Rajinikanth's entry into politics comes as the latest development in the affiliation between politics and the film industry in the state. Karunanidhi was a noted scriptwriter who later became the supremo of DMK, while M G Ramachandran, one of the most popular leading actors in the Tamil film industry, was a popular chief minister for several tenures, till his demise in the late 1980s. His protege, Jayalalithaa, later became the chief minister of the state for several tenures, till her demise in 2016. Several members of the film fraternity have joined politics in the past years and become members of the Assembly. 

Leaders from various parties responded to his political debut stating that anybody can enter politics and form a political party, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) welcomed the move wholeheartedly.

Tamilisai Soundarajan, president of Tamil Nadu BJP, said, "Welcome actor Rajinikanth's political entry with motto of corruption-free, good governance, which is the sole aim of BJP." BJP, which is suffering from the lack of a strong political face in the state, has been wooing the actor to be part of the political party. 

AIADMK state Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar said that anybody can form a political party and it is the people who have to recognise it and support it. The success or failure of a political party is decided by the people, he added.  

T T V Dhinakaran, who is leading the Sasikala faction of the AIADMK, echoed this stating that anybody can enter into politics and the people are the decision makers. He welcomed Rajinikanth into the political arena.

A DMK leader, stating that anybody has the freedom to enter politics, added that Rajinikanth's debut would not be a threat to the party. In 1996, Rajinikanth had exhorted the people to support the DMK against Jayalalithaa, an act he repented in later years.

Born in 1950 in Karnataka, he was the fourth child of his parents, who had their roots in Maharashtra. His original name was Shivaji Rao Gaekwad, named after the revered Maratha warrior Shivaji. He lost his mother at the age of five and studied in Ramakrishna Mission. He had to take up all sorts of odd jobs, including carpentry, serving as a coolie and even as a bus conductor for the Karnataka State Transport Corporation.

It was during this time that he nurtured his acting interests by performing in various stage plays. Rajini's friend and bus driver Raj Badhar helped Rajini financially to learn acting from the Madras Film Institute. Director K Balachandar introduced Rajini in 'Aboorva Raagangal' as a co-artist in an inconsequential role. While Balachandar was his guru, it was director SP Muthuraman who actually revamped Rajni's image. Rajini counts Sivaji Ganesan as his screen idol. He has fans not only from Tamil, Telegu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi regions, his films also have followers in Japan, China, Malaysia, Singapore, UK, and the US. He might also be the only actor who stopped the registration of fan clubs at one point, when their number became overwhelming, stating that he could not control them properly. Married to Lata, an English literature graduate, hailing from an elite Iyengar family, in 1980, Rajini has two daughters.