Rajini keeps cards close to chest on political leaning
CHENNAI: Tamil superstar Rajinikanth appeared ambivalent on Monday when he was asked about an Opposition alliance against the Bharatiya Janata Pary (BJP) in the next general election.
“There are efforts to unite the opposition parties to come under an umbrella to take on the BJP in the coming election. Does this show that the BJP is posing grave threat?” the 67-year-old actor was asked by media at Chennai airport. “That seems to be their thinking, so , maybe it is,” was his cryptic response.
Further, on demonetisation, which he had supported earlier as a welcome and timely initiative to curb black money, the star said, “The way it was implemented was not correct. Its implementation was wrong. ”
In the past, Rajinikanth has been accused by some Tamil parties, including the Opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), of being a B-team of the BJP. The actor has expressed political ambitions but has refrained so far from converting his fans club, Makkal Mandram, into a formal political party.
Political analysts say the remark cannot be interpreted as Rajinikanth distancing himself from the BJP. “This one-off remark can’t be taken as a statement of his political stance. He continues to live under different shades...,” says Ramu Manivannan, author and professor of political science at Madras University.
BJP leaders expressed surprise at Rajinikanth’s remark, maintained the actor alone could explain what he actually meant. “It was a response to a question and we are not unduly worried,” said a BJP leader who did not want to be identified.
Bhopal:
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, who turns 72 in February, is engaged in another big election of his political career spanning nearly half a century. He was chief minister of Madhya Pradesh from 1993 to 2003 and led the Congress’s state unit for seven years. By his own admission, he played a distant role in the last two assembly polls in which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) retained power. He is now a part of the party’s formidable senior leadership along with state Congress chief Kamal Nath and campaign committee chairman Jyotiraditya Scindia. In the role of coordinator, Singh’s task is to quell dissidence and mobilise cadres. He spoke to
about what is working for the Congress going into the elections, anti-incumbency against the BJP, and the unity within his own party. Edited excerpts:
Sharma Vinod
I don’t believe in psephology. The sample size of such surveys is so small that it’s impossible to forecast the outcome. More important to me is the feel I have of the ground realities. The feedback I receive from my workers and contacts gives me the real sense of what’s on the ground.
In the 2008 and 2013 assembly elections, I wasn’t really involved in the campaign and didn’t really know what was happening. But this time, after my [six-month-long] Narmada Parikrama and my outreach as the chairman of the party’s coordination committee, in the course of which I covered 194 assembly constituencies, I can tell you that we are forming the government. My assessment is as much based on a comparative analysis of our final list of candidates and that of the BJP. By a majority. Anti-incumbency against BJP MLAS, ministers, and to some extent the chief minister [Shivraj Singh Chauhan] besides the overall anti-incumbency against the government, which is rooted in corruption. It is the most corrupt government, in which politicians and bureaucrats are looting the state and sharing the booty. The Congress was always weak in urban areas and strong in rural areas, with the exception of the 2009 Parliament elections. At that time, we did well in urban centers due to successful implementation of the economic policies of Dr Manmohan Singh. His image and that of Mrs Sonia Gandhi made a great combination. It helped us win most of the urban seats. I can’t give you numbers. I can only say that Madhya Pradesh is basically a rural state where the ratio of rural-urban seats is almost seven to three. The Congress party should take it up with the Election Commission so that at least this rally is not broadcast in election-bound states. Because the media was playing up that we had a spat; that we are working against each other, which is not correct. If people are with you, money doesn’t matter.
It is the most corrupt government, in which politicians and bureaucrats are looting the state and sharing the booty... Our advantage is that people are fed up with 15 years of BJP rule; every section of society is unhappy.