CHENNAI: 2020 is really a bad year, say actor Rajinikanth's fans. The actor's Tuesday announcement that he is dropping his plans to enter politics has come as a shocker for his fans who waited and waited for almost three decades.
The three-page statement of the actor and his appeal to accept his decision is the only consolation. About a dozen of Rajini's fans staged a demonstration near the actor's house in Chennai appealing him to join politics.
On Tuesday afternoon, soon after the news was flashed on the TV news channels, some Rajini fans were hesitant to believe it and wished it was fake news. Some called the fan club's headquarters at Raghavendra Kalyana Mandapam to authenticate the news. The fans were disappointed, but some said they later accepted their leader's decision. Many of them were spending money from their pockets to prepare for the elections.
A district functionary of Rajini Makkal Mandram said, "It hurts. But in a way, it was better that the decision was disclosed much in advance to the assembly polls. We were spending thousands of rupees every day as were recently instructed to form booth-level committees ahead of the assembly elections." Another functionary took solace that the fan club will continue to function and serve people.
The actor had on December 3 announced that he will launch a party and contest the upcoming assembly elections. He appointed Ra Arjunamurthy as a Chief coordinator and Tamilaruvimanian as a supervisor for this purpose.
For Rajini's fans. 2020 began with a flop of the much-hyped Darbar movie of their star. Now, it has also ended their political dreams.
Some privately say they are worried that in the pages of history, their star will be considered as a 'paper tiger' on the political front.