Rajinikanth in politics: Tamil superstar set for his 1st public meeting; what to expect from his speech

After two meetings with the members of his fans club in the last 12 months, Rajinikanth is finally ready for his first public meeting over politics. The Tamil superstar will be addressing a gathering in Chennai on Monday, March 5.

The Tamil superstar will be unveiling a statue of late legendary actor and the DMK founder MG Ramachandran at ACS Medical College in Velappanchavadi, a suburb of Chennai. The buzz is that Rajinikanth is set for a politically-loaded speech, highlighting his visions for Tamil Nadu.

"It is not a full-fledged political meeting, but will become a stage for him to express his vision to the people and especially students, who form a significant voter base in Tamil Nadu in the coming election. He might stress on the need for the change," says political observer Sam Shankar.

"I am expecting him to talk about his dream and unlikely to attack the governments like Kamal Haasan. But again rule out the possibility of him taking on people in the power as he might surprise everyone with his speech which he loves to do always," he added.

Rajinikanth had announced his intentions to float a political party earlier this year and is in the process of uniting his fans club into a well-organized party. The 67-year-old has launched an app and website to connect directly with his fans.

The Tamil Nadu politics is in chaos after the death of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. The primary opposition party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), has weakened after its patriarch M Karunanidhi retired from active politics. Hence, it has created favorable conditions in the political space for Rajinikanth to finally take the plunge.

Sensing an opportunity, Kamal Haasan has already taken a plunge into politics and formally launched his party Makkal Needhi Maiam last month in Madurai.

A poll conducted by India Today-Karvy has stated that Rajinikanth is the most preferred chief minister candidate after DMK's Stalin. It also indicated that the superstar will get 16 percent vote share with 33 seats if the elections are held now.

Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan want to contest the next state elections in 2019. While Rajini has three movies for release before he forays into politics, Kamal has to wrap up Viswaroopam 2 and Sabaash Naidu.