Actor Rajinikanth announced on Tuesday that he will not be launching his political party, for which the announcement was scheduled to be made on December 31. In a three-page statement that he posted on Twitter, the actor has apologised for not launching the party.
“I regret to inform that I am not going to launch a political party,” he said. “Only I know the pain of announcing this decision,” he said, adding that he will serve people without entering electoral politics. The 70-year-old actor was expected to float his political party in January 2021, ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in Tamil Nadu. Earlier this week, he was admitted to a private hospital in Hyderabad with ‘severe hypertension and exhaustion’. He was discharged on December 27 after his blood pressure stabilised and was advised a week’s rest by doctors. He was told to be in complete bed rest with regular monitoring of his blood pressures “in view of his post-transplant status, labile hypertension and age,” Apollo Hospitals, Hyderabad, said a statement. He has also been counselled to avoid any activity that increases the risk of contracting Covid-19, the hospital added.
Doctors had advised the actor against a hectic lifestyle since he underwent a kidney transplant in 2016, but earlier this month, he said that though there were health concerns, he was ready to sacrifice his life for the people of Tamil Nadu and made two appointments for his party. Rajinikanth’s statement comes exactly three days after he had a closed meeting with his supporters, asking their opinion on his active political entry. If Rajinikanth launched his party as he has said, this will be the first time Tamil Nadu will witness ‘spiritual politics’. He said his party will be non-casteist.
