BJP trying to woo Rajinikanth to make inroads in Tamil Nadu?

The Communist Party of India on Wednesday alleged that Bharatiya Janata Party is trying to “woo” Tamil superstar Rajinikanth in its bid to make inroads into Tamil Nadu.

But Rajinikanth was a “sensible” man who understood the cultural history of Tamil Nadu, which would not accept the “BJP brand of politics”, CPI national secretary D Raja said, referring to media reports that the popular actor might join the BJP.

Tamil superstar Rajinikanth had recently clarified that he does not appreciate that his name is being used as a political game. “My name is being used for political gains…I committed a mistake by supporting a political alliance 21 years back, it was a political accident.”

“If in case I decide to join politics, I won’t allow wrong people to join me, I will keep them away,” he told his fans during an address in Chennai on Monday. 

Read | Rajinikanth: My name is being used for 'political gains'

The BJP currently has a marginal presence in Tamil Nadu, where the political sphere is mainly dominated by the two regional players, the AIADMK and the DMK.

“The reports are merely speculative. But they also shows the BJP’s desperation and its exertion of pressure on Rajinikanth,” the Rajya Sabha member from the southern state said.

He reiterated that the BJP was trying to “fish in troubled waters” in Tamil Nadu after the death of Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in December last year and saw its effort to “woo” Rajinikanth as one such attempt.

“The BJP is trying to exert pressure on the AIADMK, which stands divided. Now it is exerting pressure on Rajinikanth,” he added.

(With Inputs from PTI)