Rajinikanth dismisses letter claiming he is set to quit politics

South star Rajinikanth took to Twitter today to debunk a letter that has been doing the rounds, claiming that the veteran will not be entering active politics after all owing to his health. In a statement, he denied releasing any such letter.

Rajinikanth's statement, written in Tamil, said, “The leaked letter that has been circulated is not mine. However, the information in it about my health and my doctors' advice is true. Regarding my political stand, I will discuss matters with the Rajini Makkal Mandram and make an announcement at the appropriate time.”

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— Rajinikanth (@rajinikanth) October 29, 2020

The purported letter, which has gone viral on WhatsApp, makes it appear that the indecisive Rajinikanth will take a final decision on entering the world of politics by December.

“I do not fear for my life. I am more concerned about the people's welfare. To usher in the political change I had promised, I have to plunge into the political field: Midway through if my health deteriorates, it could pose fresh challenges to the political process itself. If I am to take the plunge I have to launch it [his political party] before 15 January and reveal my decision in December itself. I leave it to my fans and the people to decide what I should do, based on the then prevailing situation. People's judgement is god's judgement. Jai Hind,” reads the letter, as reported by the website TheNewsMinute.com.

Rajinikanth has been threatening to enter politics for almost a quarter century now. In December 2017, a year after chief minister J Jayalalithaa's death, he at last began moving in that direction by announcing his decision to set up his own party. He also launched a website, Rajinimandram.org, to register members from his fan clubs.

Soon after the launch of the site, speculation was rife that Rajinimandram could be the name of Rajinikanth’s party, but that is yet to be confirmed almost three years later.