Rajinikanth might become next TN chief minister; ahead of Kamal Haasan, Vijay in popularity: IB report

Rajinikanth may be playing his cards close to his chest when it comes to politics, but a report claims that he is easily the most popular face among filmstars to be the next chief minister of Tamil Nadu.

According to Indiaglitz, a report by the Intelligence Bureau, under Union Home Ministry, states that Rajinikanth might become the next chief minister of Tamil Nadu. An official from the department is quoted as saying by the website that the 2.0 actor is a way ahead of Kamal Haasan and Vijay in terms of popularity as 19 percent of the surveyed people preferred his name to others.

While Kamal Haasan received four percent backing, Vijay has garnered nine percent of votes. "19% of those surveyed said they would vote for Rajini as CM if he was serious about entering politics; this is significant as Rajini enjoys almost one-fifth of the people's support even before entering politics. If Rajini chooses to enter politics with the right allies, he might even become the chief minister of the state," the official said.

The survey reportedly revealed that 32 percent of the people are ready to welcome a celebrity taking a plunge into politics.

"The present fluid political scenario in the state is looked at avidly by the rest of the country. Though an AIADMK government is in place, it is not thought of as a government supported by the people as people voted for the regime in 2016 only because of the Late J Jayalalithaa's campaign. In this backdrop, the bureau conducted a survey to find out the people's mood in the case of interim assembly polls," the IB official said.

The report claims that 89 percent of those surveyed are unhappy with the present government and none of the leaders enjoys their support. Among them, 80 percent are not willing to vote for the AIADMK again.

Interestingly, the survey says that 46 percent of the people preferred the DMK to the AIADMK. The BJP, which has been trying hard to make it big in Tamil Nadu politics, has the support of six percent of those surveyed.