Rajni not to back any Front, directs fans not to use his name

Chennai, Mar 16: Chastened by his experiences after dabbling in politics during the 2004 parliamentary elections, Tamil superstar Rajnikanth has now decided not to support any of the political fronts in the May 8 Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu.

The superstar, who is busy shooting for AVM's 'Shivaji' for which popular director Shankar is wielding the megaphone, will not talk about politics during this elections, according to the President of Rajnikanth Fans Associations Satyanarayana.

In a cirular sent to the heads of fans associations in districts, he said ''Rajnikanth is not a foe to anyone. He will not issue any political statement as he is fully involved in the filming of 'Shivaji.' ''The fans are free to vote for any party they like but they should not use the name or flag of the fanclub for electioneering,'' he said.

Rajnikanth had created a sensation in the Tamil Nadu politics ahead of the 1996 Assembly elections when he openly criticised the then Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.

His punchline ''Even God cannot save Tamil Nadu if Ms Jayalalithaa is elected Chief Minister again'' was widely quoted in the media amid a strong-incumbency wave that swept across the state.

Rajnikanth was considered instrumental in the landslide victory registered by the DMK-led alliance in the elections and he was portrayed as a force to reckon with in the state politics.

Even as expectations about his entry into politics ran high, the superstar started issuing contradictory statements about his political ambitions which confused his fans.

In the 2004 Parliament elections, the superstar had to cross swords with PMK founder S Ramadoss after the latter's stinging criticisms about him triggered clashes between PMK cadres and Rajnikanth's fans across the state. Raising his voice against the PMK, which was in the DMK alliance, the superstar openly threw his weight behind the AIADMK-BJP combine in the 2004 parliamentary elections. However, contrary to his calculations, the DMK front swept the elections by winning all the 39 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

Having suffered a flop in politics, the superstar then returned to the tinsel world and came out with a box office hit 'Chandramukhi.' Even as several of his colleagues in the Tamil filmdom, including Vijayakanth, Karthik, Murali, Vijayakumar and Senthil, have taken the plunge into electoral politics this time, the superstar has apparently decided to keep away from politics and concentrate on what he is best at -- acting.

However, expressing shock and disappointment over his decision, some of the fan clubs have appealed to Rajnikanth to reconsider it.

They said that the actor should have consulted the fans before making the announcement.

UNI