Superstar actor Rajinikanth has heaped praises on Prime Minister Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for the recent move on Kashmir abrogating Article 370 that granted special status to the state. Rajinikanth went on to liken the duo with Hindu deities Bhagwan Krishna and Arjuna. Congratulating the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah over this move, the superstar said, “My heartfelt congratulations for your for Mission Kashmir. The speech you [Amit Shah] delivered in the Parliament is fantastic.”
Rajinikanth was speaking at the launch of a book that chronicles the first two years of vice-presidency of Venkaiah Naidu. Hailing the relationship between PM Modi and Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, the veteran actor said, “We don’t know who is Krishna and who is Arjuna. It is only they know [Modi and Shah].”
It is important to mention here that the Indian silver screen superstar Rajinikanth had made his much-anticipated entry into politics on 31st December 2017 by starting political party. He also made the promise that his party will fight in all the seats in Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections in 2021. Last year there were speculations about the superstar Rajinikanth joining the Bharatiya Janata Party. According to sources, Rajinikanth had held several meetings with senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in Delhi. Within a short span of five days the Tamil superstar had held as many as seven meetings with senior BJP leaders according to sources.
In the run up to the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year, the Tamil icon had heaped praise on the BJP manifesto over its promise to inter-link India’s rivers. It led to speculations that the superstar might have just signaled his fans to support the BJP during the Lok Sabha polls. Rajinikanth lauded the BJP manifesto while addressing reporters in Chennai. He had said, “I have been speaking about interlinking Indian rivers for years. The BJP has released its election manifesto on Monday. Amongst the poll promises, I was attracted by BJP’s assurance to inter-link Indian rivers.” Rajinikanth had also said, “When I spoke about interlinking Indian rivers, Vajpayee was very interested in implementing that. I had also coined a name ‘Paheerath Yojana’ – means for making impossible things possible. If the country’s rivers are linked, it will eradicate poverty and the lives of crores of people and farmers will improve. If NDA forms the government again at Centre, they should implement this first.”
What looks like the superstar’s proximity to the BJP, comes as a major boost for the latter. It must be noted that Rajinikanth is a highly popular figure in Tamil Nadu and his closeness to the Modi government, can at least potentially help the BJP in its attempts to become a strong and formidable political entity in south India.