The Rajini impact on politics continues

By: Settu Shankar
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Dinakaran, a Tamil daily, has published a survey result conducted along with A.C.Neilson yesterday about Rajini's political entry and his popularity among the masses. According to their survey, only 30 percent of the people welcomed his political entry and 40 percent opined against him. But more than 79 percent of people surveyed said that Rajini is a man with a noble heart and he will do something for the people. In Chennai metro, 36 percent people voted in favour of Rajini's political entry. The same percentage cast their lot against his entry. The survey found that Rajini has his own vote bank in the southern districts like Nellai, Kanniyakumari and Tutucorine.

This survey has created a furore among the ardent Rajini fans. In some places, the fans burnt the news paper copies and registered their protest against the 'party organ's opinion in the name of a survey'. This is because, the party organ didn't says anything about the opinion poll on Rajini's political entry in its promotional advts till last week. In all its earlier promos, the publication had given importance to the questions of Karunanidhi's successor, the one year performance of the DMK govt. and Jayalalithaa's political future etc., Political observers told us that when Rajini started meeting his fans at Ragavendra Kalyana Mandapam, the shrewd ruling side has given a warning siren to Rajini in the name of a survey.

In the mean time, I contacted Sathyanaarayana, the president of the All India Rajini Fan Club's Association, to know about his reactions to the survey. He refused to comment anything on it initially, but after my persuasion, he said, 'the people of Tamil Nadu known everything about the superstar. They have always maintained a permanent place in their hearts for him'.

Some political critics viewed this survey as a technique of pulling the super star into politics, and forcing him to speak in favour of the ruling party. Anyhow, the first steps towards Rajini's political moves have been initiated by the ruling party itself in the name of a survey. Will Rajini break his silence on this issue?

Meanwhile, the other functionaries of Rajini fans have also immediately reacted against this survey. Rajini Murugan, one of the Chennai wing functionaries, told us that the survey is a biased one. He further said: 'I know how these people conduct the survey. Most of the persons who cast their vote in the opinion poll belong to the DMK. What was the necessity for this half- baked survey at present? When our Thalaivar has (leader) started meeting his fans after a long gap, it couldn't be tolerated by the ruling party. Now we have found a new wave of enthusiasm emerging among the ardent fans of Rajini. Those who had quit the fan clubs at the time of assembly polls, are returning to his fold once again. Only genuine celebrities have a durable image. Rajini is an immortal icon, and vested forces cannot hamper his clean image!'