Chennai
A day after actor Rajinikanth opted out of making a political entry, his dejected adviser Tamilaruvi Manian, declared, "Until death embraces me I shall not participate in politics".
Manian, who started his political career enamoured by veteran Congress leader K Kamaraj, later had stints with the Janata Party (Hegde faction). Since 2014 he was striving to dislodge the Dravidian parties — AIADMK and DMK. Towards this end, he brought together a third front comprising the DMDK, PMK, MDMK and BJP in 2014 LS election. Subsequently, he vowed to make MDMK leader Vaiko the Chief Minister but backed out.
Against this backdrop, he convinced a seemingly reluctant Rajinikanth to enter electoral politics. But the actor poured cold water on his plans at the eleventh hour citing his health and COVID-19. Upset by this Manian issued a statement on Wednesday saying he was quitting politics. "I have nothing to achieve in the world which cannot differentiate between a stone and a precious gem,” he lamented.
However, Ra Arjunamurthy, a BJP fuctionary, who was appointed chief coordinator of his proposed party, which he never launched, took the actor's decision in his stride. He told media he would like to travel with Rajinikanth, "who is in mental distress" over abandoning a political mission due to his health. “Rajinikanth had grand plans for the people of Tamil Nadu and work had begun for this. Now, he is in distress that he is unable to execute his plans,” he claimed.
(To download our E-paper please click here. The publishers permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)
