Rajnikanth Birthday Special: Timeline of Thalaiva’s political journey
Rajinikanth Turns 72: Take a look at all political interventions of Rajnikanth since 1996
Rajinikant turns 72 today. Apart from being an actor, and politician, he is also one of the most-loved and highest-paid superstars and holds a massive mass appeal among the people in South India, especially in Chennai. After achieving massive success in movies, Rajinikanth is finally ready to jump into politics after a long wait. Before you see Raijnikanth holding rallies of thousands in the next Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections, go through the timeline of Rajinikanth’s political journey.
Here is a Timeline of Rajinikanth’s brush with politics:
1996: The superstar’s first involvement in politics goes back to 1996 when he campaigned for the legislative polls. His campaign against the then-CM Jayalalithaa helped the DMK party to evict AIADMK from power. His comment “Even God couldn’t save Tamil Nadu if Jayalalithaa becomes CM again” was hugely debated in the political arena.
2004: After the failure of the 1998 general election, he remained out of politics for more than 6 years. In 2004, he spoke out against the PMK (Pattali Makkal Katchi). The PMK had created a furor against his film Baba. Again his efforts had no visible impact as PMK won 5 seats in the Lok Sabha election. Later in the same year, he supported the BJP-AIADMK alliance during the Lok Sabha elections. The alliance was not able to win even a single seat in the election that followed later.
2011: The Tamil Superstar pledged his support to the AIADMK in the Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections in 2011.
2014: Then-Prime Minister candidate of the NDA alliance, Narendra Modi met Thalaiva at his residence before the 2014 general election. This was an indication that Rajinikanth’s political stature was growing. Rajinikanth said that he was a well-wisher of PM Modi, while Narendra Modi had described him as a good friend.
2016: During the prayer meeting of late politician Jayalalithaa, the Tamil Superstar fondly remembered the former CM and declared her a diamond. He said that all the criticism and suffering polished her. Despite the political pressure of patriarchal society, she shone like a diamond and now she rests like a Kohinoor diamond. This showed us that Rajinikanth was ready to jump into the political arena on his own.
2017: The megastar began meeting his fans across Tamil Nadu in 2017 in a bid to strengthen his political clout. Just ahead of the New Year, he launched a fan meet-and-greet before announcing his official entry into politics. He said I entered politics in 1996. The event went on for 6 days and fans of the superstar from 20 districts of Tamil Nadu made their way to the grand mandapam.
View this post on Instagram
December 31, 2017: On the last day of the year 2017, he said, “My entry into politics is definite. It is the need of the time, I will be floating my own party and contest elections in all seats in Tamil Nadu.”
2019: Ahead of the general election, Rajinikanth decided not to take part in the 2019 general election and said his “Rajini Makkal Mandram” party won’t support any political party in the Lok Sabha Elections 2019.
2020: On 3rd December 2020, Rajinikanth finally ended the suspense and posted on Twitter that with huge support from people, he will launch a political party in January 2021. His Rajini Makkal Mandram is expected to take part in the 2021 state election in Tamil Nadu. He had said that the public wants transparent, honest, corruption-free, secular, caste-less, and spiritual politics.
On the work front, Thalaiva is coming up with two films. One would be Jailer, for which he would collaborate with director Nelson Dilip Kumar. For the other, he will team up with his daughter Aishwarya Rajinikanth. It will be titled Lal Salaam. He has also reportedly signed a two-movie deal with Lyca Productions. He was last seen in the Siruthai Siva-directed Annaatthe.
Edit- Ayushi Mittal
