CHENNAI: Never, if not now, was the message that lit the soul of many a die-hard Rajinikanth fan on fire. Heeding the actor’s call for a revolution and political change, fans and cadres of the star’s Rajini Makkal Mandram sprung to action once the lockdown was lifted.
Yet, their recent enthusiasm in pasting posters about the star’s long-awaited political plunge only earned them a reprimand from RMM HQ, which has ordered workers to avoid such activities.
The order has confused the cadres and has forced them to confront the question Tamil Nadu has been asking for over two decades: Will Rajini ever really enter electoral politics?
“Our leader (Rajinikanth) told us that if there is no political change now, the system will never change. Never if not now, he told us. Hence, he wanted to create a revolution among the masses and raise awareness of the importance for a political change in the upcoming assembly polls,” said an RMM district functionary from one of the delta districts.
The functionary said party workers undertook some campaigns to reach out to the masses. The efforts were curtailed, however, by the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown.
Nonetheless, the workers said they tried their best. “Even during the lockdown, we distributed face masks with our leader’s slogan: “Never if not now,” a youth wing functionary said.
“Once the lockdown was eased, our members started to paste wall posters to invite our leader into politics and urge people to support his ideology,” the youth wing functionary said. In response to this, staff from RMM headquarters instructed them not to put up any such posters,” the youth wing functionary said, confused.
“After that we are finding it difficult to convince our cadres as most of them have lost hope that our leader will start a political party in time for the assembly polls,” he lamented.
According to the functionaries, they have been told that Rajini’s priority is to finish the Annathe film, which is under production. “For this he has to spend at least 30 days on shooting and post-production works. Hence, there is no chance of a political announcement from him till February 2021,” the youth wing functionary said.
RMM members said that even if shooting for the film began in January, they would still not have enough time to “create a storm” in the political arena. This realization has created much discussion and concern among cadres, with many expressing disappointment and dismay that the actor may not take the plunge.
Never, if not now, has become their fear.