Rajinikanth on 2021 TN assembly polls: ‘Miracle’ debate continues merrily
Chennai: The ‘miracle’ debate initiated by superstar Rajinikanth during his buddy Kamal Haasan’s birthday celebration last Sunday is refusing to die down and is in fact gathering political heat and dust.
The latest headliner on this happened on Thursday at the airport here when reporters asked Rajini about the AIADMK senior minister D. Jayakumar saying there is no space for ‘spiritual politics’ in Dravidian Tamil Nadu and some others in his party saying Kamal and he (Rajini) coming together would be like “a zero joining hands with another zero”.
On his return from Goa after receiving the IFFI ‘icon’ award, Rajini retorted that the people of Tamil Nadu would surely deliver a miracle at the 2021 Assembly elections, “one hundred per cent”. He was clearly implying that the polls would result in a change in government.
As the star’s sharp knife sunk deeper into the AIADMK wound, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami took the bait willingly at his media interaction at Thoothukudi later in the day. To the scribes’ prodding for a reaction to Rajini’s latest ‘miracle’ jibe, the CM shot back: “I do not know on what basis Rajini has predicted miracle happening in 2021; perhaps he has meant the return of the AIADMK rule after winning the elections”.
The DMK was delighted with these ‘miracle’ exchanges happening across the political fence, particularly the latest between Rajini and the CM. “I am happy to find CM Edappadi admit it would be a miracle if the people of Tamil Nadu elect his party to power again in 2021. It appears that he is himself aware that getting re-elected would be a big miracle”, said VP Duraisamy, deputy general secretary of the DMK.
“As we all know, miracles happen only rarely; and Edappadi has had his dose of miracle already when he got catapulted to be CM from near-obscurity. And so we can be sure our state will be spared of yet another disaster”, added the DMK senior.
The BJP too wants to be part of the ‘miracle’, it appears. Just a couple of days back, former Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan declared, rather flamboyantly, that only the alliance which has his BJP would be able to form the next government in Tamil Nadu, post-polls, 2021.
The ‘miracle’ debate began at the massive Kamal birthday function at the Nehru Indoor Stadium on November 17, with Rajini saying miracles do happen; they have happened in the past, they are continuing to happen and there could be miracles in the future too.
He said “for instance”, Edappadi Palaniswami would not have imagined he would become the Chief Minister but the miracle did happen; so too another miracle was his surviving in power despite the many doomsday predictions and then even consolidating his hold on the government. And so, there could be a miracle in the future too, he had said, causing an uproarious applause from the fans and friends gathered there.
The AIADMK got upset interpreting the ‘miracle’ statement as a jibe at the CM, while several others concluded that Rajini was actually hinting he might join hands with Kamal to make a bid for power in the 2021 polls. The latter prospect seems emerging with both the friends agreeing to come together in the interests of Tamil Nadu and its people, “if need be”, and both insisting that there is indeed a leadership vacuum in the state (after the demise of Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi).
