Rao wanted to make Rajinikanth TN CM

CHENNAI: Former prime minister Narasimha Rao offered to make superstar Rajinikanth the chief minister of Tamil Nadu if he contested as a Congress candidate in the 1996 Assembly elections, according to the recently-released biography of the actor.

Rajininkanth, who was at loggerheads with the then chief minister and AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa and openly criticised her government triggering speculations about his entry into politics, received a phone call from Rao in 1995.

Thanking the actor for his support to the Congress, the late prime minister indicated that his party would not be averse to making him the chief minister of the state, according to the book The Name is Rajinikanth, written by a city-based ophthalmologist Dr Gayathri Sreekanth.The Congress was an ally of the AIADMK then.

When Rajinikanth sought time to think it over, Rao suggested a meeting between the two during his visit to Chennai. The meeting eventually took place at Congress headquarters ���Satyamurthy Bhavan���, where the actor politely turned down the offer, the book said.

Instead, Rajinikanth recommended senior Congress leader G K Moopanar for the chief minister���s chair, saying he would be a perfect candidate.

���In the event of Congress forming a coalition government, I humbly request you to please consider joining with people who will do good for the state.I want Congress to be an ally of the DMK. I think it���s time we give the DMK a chance,��� the book quoted him as saying.