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Rajinikanth gifts houses to Cyclone Gaja victims, BJP leader invites him to join party

The houses were constructed at a cost of Rs 18.5 lakh by members of Rajini Makkal Mandram (RMM), the launchpad to his proposed political outfit, in fishing hamlets like Kodikkarai, Arkatuthurai and Thalainayar.

Rajinikanth, Rajinikanth politics, Rajinikanth political party, Rajini Makkal Mandram, Gaja Cyclone, Cyclone Gaja, Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, Rajinikanth BJP, Pon Radharkrishnan, KS Alagiri, Congress, Indian Express News, Chennai News, Tamil Nadu news

The beneficiaries were invited to the Superstar’s residence in Poes Garden where they were handed over the house keys.

Keeping his promise, actor-politician Rajinikanth has handed over keys of newly built houses to 10 people in Tamil Nadu whose residences got damaged last year due to Cyclone Gaja, which claimed about 52 lives in the state.

The houses were constructed at a cost of Rs 18.5 lakh by members of Rajini Makkal Mandram (RMM), the launchpad to his proposed political outfit, in fishing hamlets like Kodikkarai, Arkatuthurai and Thalainayar. The constructions were completed by October this year and the beneficiaries were handed over the keys at the superstar’s residence in Poes Garden.

In November 2018, Rajinikanth had promised that he would construct concrete houses for the cyclone victims in Nagapattinam district, one of the worst affected areas.

RMM, which was launched by Rajinikanth in 2017, has been actively involved in various social welfare activities in recent years. During the cyclone, the office-bearers of the outfit provided relief materials worth Rs 50 lakh. This year, when acute water shortage gripped Chennai, the outfit supplied drinking water free of cost in various parts of the city.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu leader and former Union minister Pon Radhakrishnan appealed to Rajinikanth to join BJP ahead of 2021 Assembly elections. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday at Pudukkottai, Radhakrishnan said, “If Rajinikanth flaunts his political outfit, I welcome that. But, I want him to join BJP.”

While Rajinikanth is yet to respond to Radhakrishnan, the BJP leader’s remark has evoked a rejoinder from Congress. “Rajinikanth won’t launch his political party. Even if he does that or joins BJP, Tamil Nadu is not going to benefit. Those who engage in spirituality won’t enter politics,” Congress leader KS Alagiri said.

Janardhan Koushik

Janardhan Koushik is Deputy Copy Editor of indianexpress.com. He is a New Media journalist with over five years of reporting experience in the industry. He has a keen interest in politics, sports, films, and other civic issues. Janardhan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Visual Communication from SRM Arts and Science College and a PG Diploma in New Media from Asian College of Journalism, one of the top ranked journalism schools in India. He started his career with India Today group as a sub-editor as part of the sports team in 2016. He has also a wide experience as a script-writer having worked for short-films, pilot films as well as a radio jockey cum show producer while contributing for an online Tamil FM. As a multilingual journalist, he actively tracks the latest development in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry utiling his well-established networks to contribute significantly to breaking news stories. He has also worked as a sports analyst for Star Sports. ... Read More

First uploaded on: 22-10-2019 at 19:40 IST

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