RAJINIKANTH TO MEET MODI?
CHENNAI: Talk that Rajinikanth could visit New Delhi soon to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi has intensified speculations that the Tamil superstar is set to take the plunge into politics.
Rajinikanth has not said anything yet about his Delhi visit, but BJP leaders are optimistic that the star with a huge fan following would join the party, helping it to make inroads into the state so long dominated by the DMK and the AIADMK.
State BJP leaders say Rajinikanth and Modi enjoy a personal rapport.
The superstar was one among the three people that the prime minister had called upon during his last visit to the state. The other two were the then-ailing chief minister J Jayalalithaa and political commenter Cho Ramaswamy.
BJP leaders have already been making the right noises about Rajinikanth with national president Amit Shah saying the veteran actor was welcome to the party once he made up his mind to join politics.
Local party leaders including senior office bearer H Raja have also appealed to the star to join the BJP.
Speculations about Rajinikanth joining politics have swept the state in recent days after the actor called on his fans to “prepare for war”. The actor, however, did not elaborate what exactly he meant.
But a close associate of the actor from his earlier days as a bus conductor told a local TV channel that Rajinikanth has made up his mind to join politics.