AIADMK mouthpiece calls Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan 'gang of clowns'

Chennai: Invoking Amma, former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu late J Jayalalithaa, a mouthpiece of ruling AIADMK, has slammed actors Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan alongwith a group of film directors who are critical of the party, calling them a “gang of clowns”.

A poem published in Tamil daily 'Namadhu Amma' called Rajinikanth and Haasan jokers nursing newfound bravado to flaunt political ambitions post-Jayalalithaa. 

It refers to Kamal Haasan as "coward", taking a swipe at him for his political foray. It also ridiculed superstar Rajinikanth for announcing his political debut in December last year after Amma’s death. Rajinikanth is yet to announce his party’s name.

The poem published in the Thursday edition of AIADMK newspaper begs Amma to visit St George Fort and put a stop to the ‘clowns’.

"Would these pygmies have dared to wag their tails when Amma was alive", roared the poet under pen-name Chitraguptan.

The poem begins thus: "Just because that one word--I, J. Jayalalithaa - is not heard anymore, the coward who had howled he would flee the country has now got the courage to launch his maiyam; superstar too has got the ardour to launch a party…"

Haasan, floated his own political party called Makkal Needhi Maiam (People's Justice Centre) in February this year.

The actor, who visited Delhi to complete the formalities for registering his political party, met UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday and Congress president Rahul Gandhi the day before. Describing the meetings as a courtesy call, Haasan said it was too early to speak of any tie up between his party and the Congress.

Also Read: Too early for tie-up with Cong: Kamal Haasan after meeting Sonia Gandhi

Haasan has been overtly critical of the AIADMK government over issues ranging from corruption, police firing on anti-Sterlite protesters in Tuticorin that led to 13 deaths and the arrest of those opposing a proposed eight-lane green corridor between Chennai and Salem.

Although the AIADMK has targeted Haasan in the past, the ruling party has largely been subdued in its criticism of Rajinikanth, who has announced that he would launch a party that would contest all 234 assembly seats in Tamil Nadu in the next elections due in 2021.

Earlier this year, Rajinikanth had said he was stepping into politics as there was a "vacuum" in Tamil Nadu politics. The actor's visit to Tuticorin last month had drawn sharp reactions for holding "anti-social elements" responsible for the violence. 

The AIADMK mouthpiece also took on a number of film personalities and social activists who have been critical of the AIADMK government.

The poem goes on to slam movie directors Ameer, Bala, Gowthaman and Karu Pazhaniappan. It says that directors who do not have films to work on have set out masquerading as ‘Tamil poralis’. It also says that Amma’s demise has emboldened old-time film directors like Bharathiraja and Parthipan to call for a press conference once every ten days.

The poem further says that people like actor Mansoor Ali Khan, BJP leader S Ve Shekher and director S A Chandrasekar have come out talking about various things.

It also takes a dig at the social activists that are advocating against Sterlite and the proposed eight-lane Green Corridor from Chennai to Salem.

"Just to put in place this gang of clowns can't you (Jayalalithaa) come to the fort (secretariat) just for one day", the poem read.