Rajinikanth to attend Modi's swearing-in; calls BJP win in Lok Sabha polls victory for 'charismatic' leader Modi

Tamil superstar Rajinikanth on Tuesday described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a "charismatic" leader like Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajiv Gandhi and attributed the BJP's massive win in the Lok Sabha polls to his leadership.

"This Lok Sabha poll victory is a win for the individual leadership called Modi. It is the victory for a charismatic leader," he told reporters in Chennai.

He also said that he would be attending Modi's swearing-in on Thursday.

Speaking of the impact of leadership in politics he said, at the central level or state level, leaders are those who lead the respective parties to victory. "At the national level, after Jawaharlal Nehru, there were Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Vajpayee and now Narendra Modi. At the state level in Tamil Nadu, we had a Kamarajar, Anna, Kalaignar, MG Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa," said the actor.

On the national mandate he said, apart from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, there has been a Modi wave that has swept across, and that "nobody could swim against it". "Those who went with the wave have won," he added.

On the dismal performance of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Tamil Nadu he said that the the issues such as NEET, hydrocarbon extraction project, Sterlite police firing and the strong campaign of the opposition parties have played a major role.

About his expectations from the new government he said, "They should definitely take Tamil Nadu seriously and work for the state and also link the rivers Cauvery, Godavari and Krishna."

He also appreciated fellow actor and debutant politician Kamal Haasan for garnering around four per cent vote share on debut.

Rajinikanth also said that Rahul Gandhi should not resign as Congress president following the party's debacle in the Lok Sabha elections, saying he was a youngster and perhaps had not got the cooperation of senior party leaders.

"I won't say he lacks leadership qualities, Congress is an age old party and has senior leaders. As a youngster it is difficult to manage senior leaders, senior Congress leaders have not co-operated well and worked hard. Rahul should not resign, he should prove that he can do."

In a democracy ruling party and opposition party are important, I expect the opposition party also to be strong, said Rajinikanth.