Yechury asks Rajinikanth to 'first define his policies'

Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Sunday asked superstar Rajinikanth, who earlier in the day announced that he was set to join politics, to define his policies and the changes he had talked about.

Speaking to ANI, the CPM leader said, "The issue is not whether filmstars can enter politics or not. The point is Rajinikanth has now announced that he is entering politics. It is too early to say in which direction it will go. But what are the policies and issues? That has to be made clear before we can actually make an assessment of what impact it will have on Tamil Nadu politics as well as India. He is asking for changes in which direction? This question we also want to ask him. All of us agree that change is needed but change in which direction?"

Yechury added Rajinikanth had said he was not interested in the local body elections or in the Parliament elections, therefore, he was basically talking about the Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu.

Rajinikanth announced his foray into politics, earlier in the day, adding he would form a new party.

"My political entry is definite. This is a long-pending decision. I will feel guilty if I don't take this decision at least now. In the next assembly elections, I will form a party and will contest all constituencies in Tamil Nadu," he said, while addressing a gathering.