Tamil superstar Rajinikanth may have bid goodbye to politics even before taking the formal plunge, but a bunch of political parties have appealed to the actor to extend his support to them in the assembly elections due in the first half of this year.
The parties that have openly sought the superstar's backing are Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) helmed by another actor Kamal Haasan, AIADMK, and BJP, that was fervently hoping for a magic in Tamil Nadu courtesy Rajinikanth.
While Kamal declared he would seek Rajinikanth's support for his party, the BJP expressed the hope that the actor will put his weight behind the party. The ruling AIADMK went a step ahead to claim the superstar's support was always with the outfit as he had openly declared to bring back the rule of MGR.
However, it is believed that Rajinikanth is unlikely to extend his support to any political party in the Tamil Nadu assembly elections. But the MNM, BJP, and AIADMK are trying to send across a message to the actor's core fan base to support them, by invoking Rajinikanth.
RSS ideologue S Gurumurthy, who was advising Rajinikanth on his political plans, has hinted that the actor will at least give his backing to the alliance in which BJP is part of like he openly opposed J Jayalalithaa in 1996.
While Rajinikanth's 1996 message worked wonders for the DMK-TMC alliance, the actor's support failed to evoke any response in 1998 Lok Sabha polls. Six years later, when Rajinikanth supported the AIADMK-BJP alliance in 2004, the combine failed to win any seat in Tamil Nadu.
BJP, whose efforts to cajole the superstar to launch his political party failed owing to his ill health, is now working towards getting the support of Rajinikanth's fans for the upcoming assembly elections. A senior leader told DH that majority of the actor's fans are anti-DMK and the BJP's efforts would be to get them vote for the party.
“Honestly speaking, Rajinikanth will not come out of his shell till elections. But his fans are politically active especially after his announcement in December last year about the party launch. We want his fans to vote for us and our alliance and our efforts will be towards achieving that,” a senior BJP leader told DH.
While Kamal is likely to meet Rajinikanth to enquire about his health and seek his support soon, his party is not very hopeful about the outcome. “Our leader has said Rajinikanth's support will be sought. There is nothing wrong in that. But it is doubtful whether he will lend his support to anyone when he has decided not to launch his party. And, more so, I think he will be more interested in taking rest than get into politics indirectly,” a MNM leader said.