Rajinikanth fans stage protest against fringe outfits

Chennai: Fans of Tamil superstar Rajinikanth today staged a protest against fringe outfits opposed to his political entry.

The protestors also tried to burn an effigy but were stopped by police. 25 people were detained and lodged at a marriage hall in Tondiarpet.

Satya, a Rajini fan who coordinated today’s protest, said the effigy they tried to burn did not represent any individual but those opposed to the actor’s entry into politics.

“It is a symbolic protest,” he said.

On Monday, fringe pro-Tamil outfit Tamizhar Munnetra Padai had opposed the ‘Kabali’ star’s entry into politics and burned his effigy at the busy Cathedral Road, claiming that he was a Kannadiga.

Seeman, the leader of the political outfit ‘Naam Tamizhar’, has also opposed Rajinikanth’s political entry.

Rajinikanth’s Kannada origins are often a focal point of discussion in Tamil Nadu, with pro-Tamil groups raising the pitch whenever the Cauvery river water sharing dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka escalates.

The actor had, however, last week asserted his Tamil identity, saying his native place was a village in Krishnagiri district in Tamil Nadu.

“Naan pachai Tamizhan (I am a pure Tamil)….if you ask me to get out and throw me away, I will land only in the Himalayas (which he frequents) and not in any other state,” he had said.