Tamil superstar Rajinikanth to compete in coming elections

Indian superstar Rajinikanth has announced that he will be forming a party to compete in the upcoming elections to the Tamil Nadu Assembly, the Deccan Chronicle reports.

"In next assembly elections I will form a party and will contest all constituencies in Tamil Nadu," the Tamil film actor announced in Chennai on Sunday. "Truth, work and growth will be the three mantras of our party.”

Rajinikanth said the poor current state of Tamil Nadu’s politics had prompted him to run.

“In the name of democracy politicians are robbing us of our own money on our own land. We need to bring a change from the base,” he said.

“I’m not in politics for name, fame or money. The last one year has brought shame to Tamil Nadu. Every other state is laughing at the state of our politics...This must change.”

This 2010 photo shows Rajinikanth fans pouring milk as an offering over his cut-out on the release date of a new movie starred by him, Chennai, India. Reuters

The superstar’s first brush with politics came in 1996 when he backed the DMK. He also encouraged people to vote for the DMK-TMC alliance in 1998 and to defeat the PMK in 2004. He has been largely quiet on politics since.

On Dec 26 he had spoken at an event in Kodambakkam, where he expressed his hesitance to enter politics, saying the dynamics were troubling to him.

“Politics is nothing new for me. I have been in politics since 1996… Had I not known its dynamics, I would have said okay,” he had said.

But on Sunday the extremely popular actor called for a broad base of support to change Tamil Nadu’s politics.

Actor Rajinikanth addresses after announcing the launch of his political party in Chennai, India, Dec 31, 2017. Reuters

“The upcoming elections will have our army as well,” he said. “Our political movement must be free of caste and religion.”

“I don’t need party workers,” the actor said. “I need guardians who will safeguard the people of Tamil Nadu...We need the educated, uneducated and everyone under our umbrella.”

Tamil Nadu’s politics were thrown into disarray by the death of chief minister J Jayalalitha in December, which split the ruling AIADMK party.

Born in 1950 and raised in Karnataka, Rajinikanth worked as a bus conductor before taking up acting and becoming one of the highest paid stars in Asia.