Tamil superstar Rajinikanth on Sunday met a group of farmers in Chennai, who are protesting to demand the interlinking of rivers in the area, said PTI. The farmers’ leader Ayyakannu said that Rajinikanth at the meeting “told us that he will take steps to facilitate interlinking rivers”. “He said first peninsular rivers like Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Palaru, and Cauvery should be linked.”
Rajinikanth told the visiting farmers that their plea to link the rivers will be represented to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and also promised Rs 1 crore towards this. Interestingly, in 2002, Rajinikanth had famously offered 1 crore towards interlinking the Himalayan and peninsular rivers, after undertaking a fast on the Cauvery conflict.
On May 15, Rajinikanth had hinted at joining politics and said that if he ever did so, he would take on those who make money out of it. In his first direct address to fans in eight years, he said, “Some of my fans urged me to join politics...If god is willing, I will enter politics and keep away those who are money-minded and power-hungry.”
Rajinikanth also said he had made a mistake by supporting a political alliance 21 years ago. The iconic actor called his support for the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Tamil Manila Congress tie-up in 1996 a “political accident”. He added that his name was now being used for “political gains”.
On May 19, he praised veteran state politicians. “MK Stalin is a great administrator. Anbumani is a very intelligent person,” he said. “Thirumavalavan works tirelessly for Dalits. Seeman is a warrior. But the system is corrupt. People are fed up. We need to change the system together.”
In response, Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah had said “all good people” were welcome to join politics and added it was up to Rajinikanth to decide.
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