Ahead of polls, Tamil superstar Rajinikanth opts out of CM's race

Chennai: Ending the suspense, Tamil Superstar Rajinikanth on Thursday opted out of the chief minister’s race, ahead of the 2021 assembly elections in the southern state.

He said his 'Mandram', the party's main focus will be on the youth and 65 percent of its members will be below the age of 50 years.

“Unlike other parties, my party will have two leaders. One will be the party leader and another will be the Chief Minister. I can never think of becoming the CM. In 1996 even Cho called me, but I denied. I can never think of myself sitting in the assembly. So I will restrict myself to leading the party. People might say that saying no to the Chief Minister's post is some political stunt. But I have been saying it since December 2017," said, Rajinikanth.

The Tamil Superstar said 35 percent of its members will be intellectuals and experienced people.

"In most of the parties, very rarely people less than 50 years are found. In my party, 65 percent of members will be youth. Around 35 percent will be well-read, intellectual and experienced people who can lead the party in the right direction," he said.

Rajinikanth also played an excerpt from his December 31, 2017, speech when he announced his plans to enter politics. “My aim is to bring a change in the city. After the death of Jayalalitha and Kaliangar, there is nobody that people can trust and vote for. So, now we need to create a movement to bring change in Tamil Nadu politics," he said