Rajinikanth is set to announce his political party on December 31.
Superstar Rajinikanth may contest the Tamil Nadu elections next year using as a springboard a newly registered party, Makkal Sevai Katchi (Party to Save the People), with the autorickshaw as its symbol.
The holiday was recorded last year by family members of a Rajinikanth group leader, Rajini Makkal Mandram. Speculation reached its peak when it emerged that the party recently requested two symbols that have a different Rajinikanth connection.
The party’s first preference was the two-finger symbol (the “rock-on” gesture used by Rajinikanth in the movie “Baba”) and the second option was the autorickshaw. The electoral body assigned the second: a reminder of another popular Rajini protagonist, “Basha”, in which he played an autorickshaw driver.
When reports surfaced about Rajinikanth’s possible new party even before his big New Year’s Eve announcement, his team asked his team members to wait for the official information. But he did not deny the reports or even confirm them.
The Makkal Sevai Katchi party was previously registered with the Election Commission as “Anaithindia Makkal Shakthi Kazhagam”. The application included an address in northern Chennai.
Rajinikanth, 70, was not named either as a plaintiff or as the incumbent.
In September, “Anaithindia Makkal Shakthi Kazhagam” was renamed “Makkal Sevai Katchi”.
A new request was submitted for a symbol to be assigned to the match.
“Although the application for the common symbol was not from Rajinikanth, the cover letter mentioned his name,” sources from the survey body told NDTV.
Since registering in February 2019, Makkal Sevai Katchi has not contested an election.
The party was registered by relatives of AJ Stalin, a district leader of the Rajinikanth group.
SP James is the party chairman, Antony Joe Raja is the general secretary and Maria John Augustus is the party treasurer. All three are also members of a Trust founded by AJ Stalin.
The party’s financial statement for the year 2018-19, accessed by NDTV, shows “Rs 0.34 lakhs” as income and the same as expenses.
Antony Joe Raja declined to comment on his political party and his connections to Rajinikanth.
Rajinikanth, who created Rajini Makkal Mandram two years ago, is scheduled to announce his political party on December 31 before launching it in January, five months before the Tamil Nadu elections.
Earlier this month, the hugely popular star, long hesitant to join politics, announced that he was ready to take the plunge and that it was “now or never.”
He promised “spiritual and secular politics” and a “miracle” in the polls, anticipating a highly successful campaign that will also feature actor Kamal Haasan.
In October, there were reports that Rajinikanth was reluctant to join politics because his doctors warned him about Covid, due to his kidney transplant.
This will be the first election in Tamil Nadu without its political giants J Jayalalithaa, the former chief minister and head of AIADMK who died in office in 2016, and DMK rival M Karunanidhi, who died in 2018. In the absence of one A prominent political figure, two veteran actors are expected to revolutionize voting.
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