The posters put up in Vellore district come amidst speculation that Rajinikanth will launch his party in November.
Amid much speculation that actor Rajinikanth will launch his political party in November, posters from the Vellore unit of Rajini Makkal Mandram (RMM) have surfaced calling for political change in Tamil Nadu. The posters with the words, “If not now, then never” suggest that members of the political outfit are getting impatient with the superstar, even as he keeps everyone guessing on his next move.
With just months to for the 2021 Assembly Elections in Tamil Nadu, the posters put up in Vellore district by RMM stated, “If people thinking about political change and if the leader who thinks about the people join together then there will be political change and change in government. If not now, then never.”
The posters are also a reference to Rajini’s own words in March, where he said his time was now or never. Addressing fans and the media, he had said, “This is my only chance. Am I 44 or 50 (age), I am 71 and I have survived somehow. There are more than 1000 patches in the body. If I leave now, I will be 76 in 2026. I have told you my ideology. If you do not accept my ideology now how will you accept it then?”
At the same meeting in March, Rajini had also said that he never aspired to be the Chief Minister, and made it clear that when he launches his party, he will only be its leader and not the CM candidate. “I have never wanted to be Chief Minister. In fact, I can’t even think of sitting in the Assembly and going through those proceedings! I will be the party chief, and the CM will be someone who is educated, who is farsighted. He will be a person who can govern. And the party chief will be like an opposition leader — we will be the first to question if anything wrong happens. We will not interfere with the governance — there will not be two parallel power centres,” he said.
After the event, his fans and Rajini Makkal Mandram members were expecting him to launch the party in a few months.
While many reports have speculated that the actor is waiting for the pandemic to end before launching his political party, there has been no confirmation from Rajinikanth’s side.
Rajini’s entry into electoral politics has been spoken about for decades, but especially since December 31, 2017 when he formally announced his entry into politics. He later launched Rajini Makkal Mandram with his fan base and informed the people about his ideology of “spiritual politics”.
However, Rajini chose to sit out the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, even as fellow actor Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam made its electoral debut. Kamal Haasan, however, chose not to contest in the Lok Sabha Elections, choosing to be MNM’s star campaigner instead.
Source: The News Minute