Rajini throws his hat in ring

The actor Rajinikanth, known simply as Superstar, has confirmed his entry into politics. He will float a party, which will contest all 234 seats in the Tamil Nadu Assembly whenever state elections come up and he will also enter the fray in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. His highly anticipated entry into the quagmire of Tamil Nadu politics, affected by tired Dravidianism marked by welfare for the people and loot for the leaders in the last couple of decades, is to be seen as a positive development. What his impact will be as he makes a belated entry after making a splash with his first loaded political comment in 1996 can be judged only in the count of the popular vote. He is convinced that politics has been spoiled by modern looters who, unlike ancient rajas who pillaged other lands, are stealing from their own country. His spiritual bent of mind may make him a natural BJP ally, but at the moment it appears he is determined to steer an independent secular course.

Rajinikanth’s announcement came in dramatic fashion at a meeting of his fans on the promised date of December 31. Peppering his extempore speech with cinematic pauses, the star spoke fluently, delivering truths about the state of politics with a stinging sarcasm, not cynicism, but in his characteristic “punch” dialogue style. He spoke of how he needed an army of sentinels to safeguard the people and how he would seek the power to govern but not for position, fame or money. He may have sounded utopian at a time when Tamil Nadu, as he pointed out, has become the laughing stock of the nation. A time for change may have come and Rajini would like to be that change for which he is prepared to get into the “water” of politics and swim. Whatever happens from here, politics in Tamil Nadu will never be the same again.