Rajinikanth meets fans in Chennai: Subramanian Swamy asks the superstar to stay away from politics

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has slammed Rajinikanth, asking the superstar to stay out of politics as he is not well-educated, media reports said on Monday. Swamy’s statements have come at a time when the popular South Indian superstar met his fans after eight years at Chennai’s Raghavendra Wedding Hall starting speculations on whether he would be joining politics. According to News18, Swamy said," Rajini has no clear cut ideology. He has been with various parties and has no ideology. Rajini is a mere distraction." Swamy further added that Rajini’s following is a cult following and has no ideology. He also said that movie stars are adept at giving statements as their dialogues are scripted by somebody else. [caption id=“attachment_3204206” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of Subramanian Swamy. PTI[/caption] According to NDTV, Rajnikanth told 700 fans at the meet-and-greet event that he has no political aspirations, but will consider it “if it is God’s will.” The actor also said that even though he had no political ambitions, he was often dragged into political debates despite stressing that he was “neither an influential political leader nor a social activist”. “My life is in the hands of God. I’m not sure what he has in store for me. But, I’ll always perform the duty that he bestows on me. So, don’t feel disappointed if I don’t enter politics,” he told fans at a gathering. But if he did join politics, Rajinikanth said that he would ensure that there would be no place for those seeking material gain. “Money-minded people will be shunned. So, I warn you now itself to stay away,” he said. In 1996, the 66-year-old actor had supported the DMK-TMC alliance in Tamil Nadu, which swept the polls that year. But he has not been involved in any political activity since then, he said. “(But) my name has been dragged into politics for the past two decades. I am pushed to clarify during every election that I’m not affiliated with any political party,” he said. With inputs from PTI