Pon Radhakrishnan dares Vijay to name corrupt politicians

DECCAN CHRONICLE. | J V SIVA PRASANNA KUMAR

PublishedOct 5, 2018, 4:19 am IST

After Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth, actor Vijay is the latest to express his desire to enter politics.

Pon Radhakrishnan

Chennai: The BJP went hammer and tongs on actors trying to glorify themselves as epitome of honesty and branding politicians as corrupt, as an ‘excuse’ to take a plunge in politics. He said that actors ‘act’ in politics too, but politicians don’t. BJP senior and Union Minister of State for Finance and Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan dared actor Vijay to name the corrupt politicians.

“I am not blaming him. There’s nothing wrong if he wants to take a plunge into politics, but claiming the present leaders are bad is unacceptable. All those in politics are not fools nor do all of them accept bribes. How can he say so? He should name the Tamil Nadu politicians who are corrupt. If he does, then I will be the first person to appreciate him by honouring him with a garland,” Mr. Radhakrishnan said on Thursday

After Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth, actor Vijay is the latest to express his desire to enter politics. While speaking at the audio launch of his next film titled Sarkar, (scheduled for Deepavali release), Vijay told his fans that a “principled” man at the helm of affairs is required to remove the scourge of corruption in the State. “If I become CM, I will not ‘act’ as current CM of TN,” he had said.

Taking strong exception to the “vague” accusations, Mr. Radhakrishnan said “anybody can utter anything before entering politics, but what is of paramount importance is how one remains after being in politics. I dare say that there is no corruption in the government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said while having a word of praise for veteran actor Rajinikanth in saying he is the only actor who has earned the people’s support. “But, everyone can’t become MGR or Jayalalithaa,” he added.

Meanwhile, BJP state president Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan, while welcoming new entrants into politics, said actors are bound to realise that acting in films and life of a politician are not one and the same. She for one would not accept him (Vijay) saying that CMs ‘act.’ She also took a dig at Kamal saying, “If he has films, then he will say there is no need to be a full-time politician.”