NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A big star of India’s Tamil-language movies, Rajinikanth, said on Sunday he is launching a political party, adding drama to a heated political scene in a state with a history of film stars becoming chief ministers.
Tamil Nadu, which accounts for the bulk of India’s automobile exports, has been in political limbo since the death of Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa in December 2016. Jayalalithaa was a popular actress before joining politics.
Rajinikanth, called the “superstar” by his fans, enters the political scene at a time Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party is looking to make inroads into the southern state that’s been ruled by two south Indian parties for decades.
Over the past five decades, Tamil Nadu has chosen between the two Dravidian parties, both of which claim anti-caste social justice and secularism as their core ideology.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not win a seat in Tamil Nadu’s 2016 elections. The next state election is due in 2021.
“I’ll push for spiritual politics without caste or religious leanings,” Rajinikanth said. “If I come to power and am not able to deliver in three years, I’ll resign. Democracy is in a state of distress in the state.”
In Tamil cinema, Rajinikanth often plays larger-than-life characters that project him as a savior of the masses. The actor, who has been in a few Hindi movies, has created a frenzy among fans ahead of every release.
Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala told Parliament today that the suspect in the rape of a lady doctor at the Anuradhapura teaching hospital has been identified as an army deserter and he will be apprehended shortly.
Police have arrested the suspect connected to the sexual assault on a female doctor at the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital today morning in Galnewa.
The Dutch Public Prosecutor suspects two companies of paying bribes in the construction of hospitals in Sri Lanka, according to an investigation by FD, the Dutch financial newspaper.
The Minister of Power, Kumara Jayakody, stated that in the future, internationally funded projects, such as power projects, will only be carried out through government-to-government (G2G) agreements and competitive procurement.
The Government today tabled in the House the Report of the Commission to Inquiry into the Establishment and Maintenance of Unlawful Places of Detention and Torture Chambers in the Batalanda Housing Scheme.
Israel, a major player in the global diamond and jewellery trade, has invited Sri Lankan gem and jewellery businessmen and designers to collaborate with Israeli diamond traders.
Leave Comments