‘Advised Rajnikanth to Stay Out of Politics…’: Ex-VP Naidu on Why Actor Ruled out 2021 TN Poll Plunge

Former Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday said he had advised superstar Rajinikanth to stay out of politics as “it is not healthy” after the latter had undergone a kidney transplant in 2020.

Speaking at Sapiens Health Foundation’s silver jubilee event in Chennai, which Rajinikanth also attended, Naidu said he had advised against the actor’s entry into politics to Thuglak Editor and Rajinikanth close confident S Gurumurthy.

“Gurumurthy told me that Rajinikanth is eager to get into politics and serve the people. I told Gurumurthy to advise him to stay out of it,” he said.

“I’m not discouraging people from joining politics,” the Naidu clarified adding, he had called the actor and told him his views.

“I telephoned Rajini and shared my views. Thanks to the karuna, it had its effect and finally, he decided not to get into politics because politics is not healthy. If you want to be healthy, you should not join politics.”

The statement was in reference to the actor’s kidney transplant operation he had in 2020. Rajnikanth confirmed the statement and said, “When I had health issues because of the transplant, my doctor advised me to rest.”

“He told me that my health issue is a fact and that I can’t focus on politics owing to my health. That’s the reason I stayed away from politics,” he said.

The actor’s possible venture into politics triggered massive speculations ahead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections in 2021. Gurumurthy, considered to be close to the BJP, had a meeting lasting 90 minutes in November 2020 in which he reportedly told the film star that he had to play a significant role in Tamil Nadu politics.

Days ahead of the meeting in November, another statement allegedly by Rajinikanth went viral on social media in which he had cited the pandemic, his age, health condition and uncertainty over the availability of a vaccine as reasons for his decision to stay away from politics. The actor later clarified that the note was not from him but confirmed the point about his health condition and that the doctors’ advice was true.

A month later, Gurumurthy, in an interview with Zee media, said apart from Covid-19 pandemic, the real worry was Rajinikanth’s blood pressure fluctuation affecting the transplanted kidney. Noting that the mental and physical pressure stress during the process of floating a party, he said that the fallout in case something happens would have defeated the actor’s purpose and vision.

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