Warning his fans against misconduct, actor Rajinikanth issued a statement on Thursday stating that anyone who was found indulging in actions that affected the reputation and standing of the fans association would be stripped of his membership.
In the statement, the actor, who is president of All India Rajinikanth Fans Association, said that he was giving V.M. Sudhakar, one of the main office-bearers of the association, powers to remove office-bearers and members of various fan clubs found bringing disrepute to the fans association.
The statement has been issued a week after the actor met his fans for five days at Raghavendra Kalyana Mandapam for the first time in nearly a decade.
On the final day of the meeting, the actor had urged his fans to wait for an impending war and also called himself a ‘pure-Tamil.’
His statements had evoked considerable buzz among his fans and political circles in the State, and was looked at as a possible hint at his decision on joining politics.
While a few fringe outfits had voiced their protest against the probability of the actor entering politics, his fan clubs had retaliated as well.
Fans of the actor said that the statement could have been issued now due to a few reasons, including the fact that the actor was unhappy with his fans reacting to the statements of various fringe outfits.
“We are still unsure if he will enter politics. This statement, however, could be because ‘Thalaivar’ wants some discipline in place before he takes a decision and he wants to initially set the functioning of the fan clubs right,” a long-term fan of the actor said.
‘Clear instructions’
J. Srinivasan, member of the Thalaivar Foundation, a fan club that is involved in charitable causes, said that the actor had always made it clear to his fans that they should not indulge in any activity that could be of nuisance to the public.
“He has always been clear with two things to his fans — that we should look after our families well and we should not do anything which will make us a nuisance to the public or indulge in misconduct,” he said.
Echoing his sentiments, P. Sridhar, a member of the LIC fans unit of the actor since the 1980s, said that this might be a step towards bringing about order in the functioning of the fan clubs.
“Based on any statement he makes, the reactions of a few fans might have prompted him to ensure that there is some discipline and order with regard to the functioning,” he said.
