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Rajnikanth fasts for Cauvery waters

By a Correspondent

Tamil superstar Rajnikant on Saturday evening ended a nine-hour fast undertaken to press the demand for the immediate release of Cauvery waters by sipping a glass of juice.

In a brief speech at the end of his fast, the star thanked his colleagues from the film industry, and representatives of various political parties, who had come to the venue to express solidarity.

Whether the fast was a success, he said, would be known if and when the Karnataka government heeded the demands of the Tamil people and released the Cauvery waters as per the order of the Supreme Court.

He then drove in convoy to Raj Bhavan to present a memorandum asking that Governor P S Ramamohan Rao intercede with the Centre to force Karnataka to release water from the Cauvery.

Since Governor Rao is on tour, Rajnikanth is likely to present the memorandum to his secretary.

Though the fast kicked off against a backdrop of controversy, the turnout indicated that Rajnikanth had lost none of his popular appeal.

A day earlier, in course of a protest rally at Neyveli organised by the TN Cine Artistes' Association, veteran Bharatiraja had launched a vitriolic tirade against Rajnikanth.

Bharatiraja, who had directed Rajnikanth in such early movies as 16 Vayathinile that got the star noticed, accused him of attempting to split the Tamil film fraternity.

He suggested in his speech that Rajnikanth's loyalties lay with Karnataka -- an indirect reference to the fact that the star -- whose origins are actually Maharashtrian and whose given name is Shivaji Rao Gaekwad -- had started life as a conductor with the Karnataka State Transport Corporation.

"A guest cannot become head of the household," Bharatiraja said, accusing Rajnikanth of attempting to hijack the Cauvery protest movement.

That the tirade had no impact on the star's popularity was evidenced by the turnout. While thousands of fans braved the heat to maintain vigil during the nine hours of the fast, an impressive parade of stars and politicians dropped by to express their solidarity and to join him in his vigil.

The political firmament was represented by the likes of former Union finance minister P Chidambaram, Union ministers T R R Balu and S Thirunavukkarasu and head of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham youth wing and former Chennai mayor M Stalin.

The star lineup was all inclusive. South Indian Film Artistes Association President Vijaykanth to veteran actors Gemini Ganeshan and Nagesh, fellow superstar Kamal Hassan, senior star Satyaraj, director-actors Nassar and Parthipan, music composer Gangai Amaran, young stars Vijay, Murali, Arjun, Prashanth, Abbas (who, interestingly, hails from Bangalore), female stars Simran, Jyotika, et al came to the dais to spend time with the fasting superstar.

Also present were various stars owing allegiance to the DMK, such as Sharat Kumar and his actress-producer wife Radhika.

Kumar and Radhika condemned Bharatiraja's tirade of the day before, and accused him of having launched into the diatribe at the behest of politically vested interests -- a thinly veiled statement implying that AIADMK leader and Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was behind Bharatiraja's vitriol.

Kamal Hassan for his part told the media that Rajnikanth has for quite some years flirted with politics, and that today's fast could be the harbinger of a more formal entry into active politics. If that were the case, said Kamal Hassan, who made his film debut at the same time as Rajnikanth, it would be welcome.

Rajnikanth, for his part, referred to a pet theme -- he has for a while now suggested that India needs to put in place a project linking all its rivers, in the north and south, into one great grid as a means of solving the water problem across the country.

"If," he said, "the government says it has no money to implement the scheme, then I hereby announce a personal donation of Rs 10 million from my personal funds."

Cauvery Water Dispute: The Complete Coverage

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