Rajinikanth has said that he will be attending the swearing-in ceremony of prime minister Narendra Modi on Thursday at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan in Delhi. Kamal Haasan has also been invited, but he is yet to confirm if he will be present at the event.
Speaking to the media outside his house, Rajinikanth said that the BJP owes its victory to Modi and repeated that he was a charismatic leader. “This victory is for the person Narendra Modi is. He is a charismatic leader. In India, after Nehru, Indira Gandhi was a charismatic leader and then Rajiv Gandhi. Later, we had a leader like Vajpayee. In Tamil Nadu we had Kamaraj, Anna, MGR, Kalaignar and Jayalalithaa. This time the victory is for Modi.”
About his failure in the south, the actor-politician said, “There was a pro-Modi wave in places other than TN, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. In Tamil Nadu, there was an anti-Modi wave. No politician can swim against such a wave… It’s true that issues such as sterlite and NEET worked against him.”
The actor is one of the few celebrities in the south to have shown support to Modi this elections. He has met Modi in the past and also suggested an alliance. He welcomed BJP’s manifesto before the elections, and once again said yesterday that BJP’s river linking projects should be the first project that the centre takes up for TN. “They have made important promises, especially the linking of Godavari, Kaveri and Krishna,” he said.
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When asked about the speculations over Rahul Gandhi’s resignation as Congress president, Rajinikanth asked him not to quit. “I won’t say Rahul Gandhi lacks leadership qualities. It is very difficult to handle Congress party. Senior-most people are there. So as a youngster, it is difficult. In my observation, the senior leaders have not cooperated.” He added, “Rahul Gandhi should not resign, he should stand firmly. The ruling party is important… at the same time, the opposition party is also very important.”
He also congratulated Kamal Haasan for his party Makkal Needhi Maiam’s performance. “Kamal has got 4% in the state despite contesting for the first time. I congratulate him for that,” he said.