In Change of Stance, Rajinikanth Says if Opposition Parties Believe BJP is Dangerous, Then it Must be

Rajinikanth said demonetisation's implementation went wrong and should have been done after carrying out a ‘detailed search’.

Chennai: Rajinikanth, the actor-turned-politician who is considered close to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on Monday showed a change in his stance towards the saffron party and its policies.

Supporting opposition’s claim that the BJP is dangerous, he said, “If all the opposition parties think that the BJP is dangerous and that’s why they are coming together to form an anti-BJP alliance, then it must be”.

The Tamil superstar, who had earlier welcomed the demonetisation move, now said that the implementation of the policy went wrong and should have been done after carrying out a ‘detailed search’.

“The implementation went wrong, it (demonetisation) should have been carried out after a detailed research,” Rajinikanth told reporters in Chennai.

Minutes after the policy was announced on November 8, 2016, Rajinikanth had tweeted, “Hats off @narendramodi ji. New india is born #JaiHind.”

Reacting to the Centre’s denial to process the letter sent by the Tamil Nadu government to the President seeking premature release of convicts in former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination case, he said, “I am not aware of them (the seven convicts), I have just reached here”.

On spike in incidents of sexual crime against minor girls, Rajinikanth said the government should implement strict laws against people who commit sexual assault against minors.

The actor, known for Hindutva leniency, has in the past backed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s idea of holding simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and state assemblies, saying it would save time and money.

While Rajinikanth announced his entry into politics in December last year, he is yet to officially launch his political party.