Fans' fingers crossed, Rajini's political entry likely later today

Superstar Rajinikanth is testing his fans’ patience. After years of debate on whether ‘will he, won’t he’, (enter politics), the cinema icon may finally announce his decision over floating a political party on Monday (November 30) evening.

Earlier in the day, Rajinikanth held a meeting with district secretaries of Rajini Makkal Mandram at a marriage hall owned by him at Kodambakkam in Chennai.

Soon after the meeting, he told the media that the functionaries have assured him support over whatever decision he takes. However, a few of the functionaries to whom The Federal spoke to confirmed that Rajini is likely to announce his decision on Monday evening.

“He said he will convey his decision through the media on Monday evening. It is likely to come as a statement. It would definitely be a positive message for the people, but we don’t know what he has in store for us,” said a district secretary, who did not wish to be named.

“He asked for our opinion about the response from the people with regard to launching the party at this juncture. We have given him a positive feedback,” the secretary said.

Another district secretary from the western part of Tamil Nadu almost confirmed that Rajini is going political when he laid out the campaign plans. “Considering the health condition of our ‘Thalaiva’, before the morning meeting, we had suggested three state-level conferences and then the rest of the conferences through video conferencing to woo the voters. This would be confirmed soon after ‘thalaivar’ officially announces his decision,” the district secretary said.

Rajini has also expressed dissatisfaction over activities of a few functionaries of his mandran and warned of severe action against them. He has also asked the mandram people to leave the outfit if they want to make money out of politics.

Last month, a statement in the name of Rajinikanth was circulating in the social media about his health condition. The letter said that he has undergone a kidney transplant in 2016 and doctors advised him that even a vaccine for COVID-19 may not fully protect him due to his low immunity. The letter also speculated that Rajini may have to give up his political aspirations.

However, the actor refuted the claims about his political career and confirmed that a portion of the letter about his health condition is true. He also said he would take a call (on joining politics) after a discussion with his mandram functionaries.

It was in December 2017 that Rajinikanth announced that he would float a political party ahead of the 2021 assembly election and would contest in all the 234 assembly seats. However, his fans and even political opponents are still waiting for the official declaration.