Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi's invitation to Tamil superstar Rajnikanth to join the party has angered the actor's fans, who registered their disapproval on blogs and fan sites.
Rahul's remarks in a press conference on September 10, welcoming Rajnikanth into the party as he had no criminal background, have not gone down well with the fans.
'I am aggrieved to hear to Rahul's comments. How he can deliver a sentence with a negative bias for our Thalaivar (leader)? Did our Thalaivar go to the Congress door to get him in their party? So why this ambiguity in the statement? Before delivering such a statement he might have thought about whom he is making the statement. I couldn't sleep and work actively for 2 days. This statement was gruelling my mind. We all fans should write to him and advice him that apart from politics there are many other things in this world and don't take our Thalaivar for granted. It will hurt us as well as entire Tamil Nadu,' says Raghavendra Kamath in a rejoinder to Rahul's statement in Rajnifans.com, a website dedicated to the actor.
Most fans say Rahul's speech is immature and an unnecessary one at this juncture.
A furious fan said, 'He (Rahul) is surely not a matured politician and Rajni will never do a great mistake by joining the Congress party at this juncture when the party is in doldrums.'
Rajini's fan community has been requesting their matinee idol to get into active politics for the past 12 years. The actor had assured them about a discussion on his political entry only after the much-awaited release of Endhiran (Directed by Shankar with Aishwarya Rai in the lead). The fans wish that their leader would launch a new party after Endhiran's release.
Last year, some of his fans in Coimbatore had tried to force Rajnikanth to start a political party immediately. They even named the party as Desiya Dravidar Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (DDMMK) and even floated the party tricolour flag in red, while and black in which Rajni's face was to be seen inside a star.
An angry Rajni promptly sent a legal notice to his fans' association in Coimbatore and publicly stated that nobody, including his fans, should misuse his name or image for their vested interests. Later, the superstar met thousands of his fans separately to assure them that he will take a political plunge at an appropriate time.
Many of Rajni's fans are still thinking that Endhiran may be his last film and that he may take a political course next year to prepare for the next assembly elections.
Meanwhile, responding to Rahul's invitation, Rajni said: "I thank him for his invite. As of now, I don't have any plans to step into politics."
