Bharatiya Janata Party’s State president Tamilisai Soundararajan said that her party was not behind actor Rajinikanth taking the plunge into politics.
Speaking to reporters here on Wednesday, she said there was a concerted attempt to create an impression among people that BJP was behind Mr. Rajinikanth’s political moves. There was no need for the BJP to direct him, she said.
Dr. Tamilisai said there had been a tendency to blame the BJP for many political developments. Some parties had initially stated that BJP was controlling the AIADMK government. There was also a campaign that BJP had a hand in the court verdict on the 2G case. Now, a canard that Rajinikanth was acting at the behest of BJP was being spread and there was no truth in it, she said.
While agreeing that poor performance of the BJP in R.K. Nagar by-poll was a setback, Dr. Tamilisai said that it was only temporary. “But it was not limited to the BJP alone. It has happened to all parties that contested in the by-poll,” she said and alleged that extensive distribution of cash to voters had actually decided the outcome of the election. The BJP would rework its strategy to win over the confidence of voters in future polls by strengthening the organisation at the grass root level.
The State government had not taken sufficient steps to ensure farmers of various districts, including those affected by Cyclone Ockhi in Kanniyakumari and Tirunelveli districts, received compensation under crop insurance scheme. There was not much progress in implementation of Smart City proposals in various Corporations, including Thanjavur and Vellore, she said.
