This is an archive article published on December 4, 2020
Open to tie-up with Rajinikanth’s party: Tamil Nadu Deputy CM Panneerselvam
AIADMK coordinator and Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam has hinted at a possible alliance with actor Rajinikanth who confirmed Thursday that his party will contest the upcoming elections in Tamil Nadu.
Written by Janardhan Koushik
Chennai | Updated: December 4, 2020 02:43 PM IST
3 min read
Whatsapp
twitter
Facebook
Reddit
Rajinikanth has confirmed Thursday that his party will contest the upcoming elections in Tamil Nadu.
AIADMK coordinator and Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam has hinted at a possible alliance with actor Rajinikanth who confirmed Thursday that his party will contest the upcoming elections in Tamil Nadu.
Ever since Rajinikanth made the announcement, he has been receiving bouquets and brickbats from the Tamil Nadu political fraternity
Addressing the reporters in Theni, Panneerselvam said: “We welcome great film actor Rajinikanth’s decision to enter politics. In politics, anything can happen. If there is an opportunity, an alliance will be formed (with Rajinikanth),” he said.
OPS’ comment comes weeks after the AIADMK party confirmed they will continue their alliance with BJP for the upcoming assembly election. The announcement was made at a government function attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said he was confident that AIADMK-BJP alliance will win more seats and retain the power in the state.
AIADMK’s spokesperson Vaigaichelvan told Tamil channel Puthiyathalaimurai that there is absolutely no conflict within the party. “AIADMK’s deputy coordinator O Panneerselvam has made a general comment. CM Edappadi has already said that anyone can start a party in this democratic country. Panneerselvam’s comment is a sign of goodwill.
During the election, all parties come together to defeat a common enemy. Arignar Anna and Rajaji, who were two opposite poles, came together to defeat Congress, it’s part of history, It’s not something new,” he said.
Story continues below this ad
DMK’s deputy general secretary MP A Raja said DMK’s vote bank won’t be deluded with Rajinikanth’s arrival. Raja described Rajinikanth’s “secular spiritual politics” as “contradictory”. “The antagonism and antipathy towards the Edappadi-led government will remain, which will be helpful to DMK,” Raja told the media,” ANI quoted him saying.
VCK Chief MP Thol Thirumavalvan said Rajinikanth will operate as just another face of BJP in Tamil Nadu. “The appointment of Arjuna Murthy, the former head of the Intellectual cell of Tamil Nadu BJP, as his (Rajinikanth) party’s chief coordinator, shows his affiliation with the saffron party. By terming his politics as spiritual, Rajinikanth has identified himself as a right-wing sympathiser. BJP is not able to enter Tamil Nadu on its own and hence Rajinikanth is being used as a tool for their agenda,” he said.
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said he won’t be surprised if Rajinikanth aligns with Panneerselvam and BJP to block the two-leaves symbol of AIADMK by engineering a split, leaving Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami in a limbo.
Janardhan Koushik is Deputy Copy Editor of indianexpress.com. He is a New Media journalist with over five years of reporting experience in the industry. He has a keen interest in politics, sports, films, and other civic issues.
Janardhan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Visual Communication from SRM Arts and Science College and a PG Diploma in New Media from Asian College of Journalism, one of the top ranked journalism schools in India.
He started his career with India Today group as a sub-editor as part of the sports team in 2016. He has also a wide experience as a script-writer having worked for short-films, pilot films as well as a radio jockey cum show producer while contributing for an online Tamil FM.
As a multilingual journalist, he actively tracks the latest development in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry utiling his well-established networks to contribute significantly to breaking news stories. He has also worked as a sports analyst for Star Sports. ... Read More