Chennai: Even before he could float his own party, actor Rajinikanth has been making glaring changes to the office-bearers list of Rajini Makkal Mandram (RMM).
Several persons appointed by him to helm the affairs in districts have been removed and replaced with fresh faces. This has set off speculation among his fans that he is acting tough and setting up a platform for his full-fledged political foray in the next few months.
A press release yesterday from the mandram, issued with the approval of Rajinikanth, said a couple of deputy secretaries, IT and youth wing secretaries were removed from the organisation. Members have been advised not to have any truck with them.
A few days ago, a few other districts in the State saw some changes. Similarly, Puducherry unit saw fresh appointments that included the official spokesperson.
An office-bearer of RMM told ‘News Today’, “There is no place for indiscipline. Our performance is being constantly watched by ‘thalaivar’. Every appointment is based on how we carry forward his ideas among the people. Perform or perish is his mantra. In today’s political scenario, he has to be tough with everyone. There should be no place for sentiments. He has to act tough. The strength of the DMK and AIADMK is the way their leaders ran the affairs of the party in a strong way.”
“Ever since Rajinikanth announced on 31 December 2017 that he was entering politics, office-bearers had been appointed for Rajini Makkal Mandram and we are busy with the membership drive. We have so far established around 50,000 branch committees, with each having a minimum of 30 members. We hope to add another 25,000 committees in the next few months.”
Trouble broke out in RMM when Rajinikanth decided to suspend a senior functionary in Dindigul district. It did not go down well with a section of his fans. Protesting the decision to remove S M Thamburaj, the district secretary of the organisation and all office-bearers of the district even came forward to resign their posts.
“However, after a meeting with all members of the area, the issue was sorted out. Recently, Rajinikanth instituted a committee with six members of RMM to look into disciplinary matters of the Mandram.
The disciplinary action committee is vested with powers to enquire all issues relating to discipline referred to by members of the Mandram and to recommend suitable action.
The committee meets once a month to discuss complaints. A statement was also issued warning of disciplinary action against members who tried to disrupt the functioning of the organisation.
Based on the recommendations of the committee, action is being taken. Once everything is set and membership drive concludes, we may expect a formal announcement about Rajinikan floating the party, says another RMM member.