Normally reticent and usually silent maestro Illayaraja, who regaled countless fans with his musical prowess, is in the news for strange reasons. He has never spoken about politics all his life. But, now he is in the news for his laudatory comments on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He praised Narendra Modi's leadership qualities and compared him with Babasaheb Ambedkar.
The buzz now is that Ilayaraja would be nominated to the Rajya Sabha from the President's quota. Though there is no official confirmation, the news is already doing rounds in the political circles of Tamil Nadu. To grist to the rumour mill, Illayaraja has recently written a forward to a book on Narendra Modi. The forward contained several laudatory references. Ilayaraja praised Modi and said he was a leader of rare qualities. Since then, there have been rumours that he would be made Rajya Sabha MP.
Sources say this could be part of the BJP's plans to strengthen itself in Tamil Nadu. It has already given an important nominated post to actress Khusboo, who joined the BJP ahead of the assembly elections. She was given the party ticket to contest, but she lost. To keep her in good humour, the party gave her a key post. Similarly, Illayaraja's nomination to Rajya Sabha is also being seen as an attempt to take roots in Tamil Nadu.
The BJP also tried to entice super star Rajinikanth into the BJP. Even Rajini hobnobbed with the top BJP leaders, including LK Advani and Narendra Modi for quite some time. However, he later decided not to join politics due to health issues. It remains to be seen how Illayaraja would help the BJP in becoming stronger in Tamil Nadu.
The buzz now is that Ilayaraja would be nominated to the Rajya Sabha from the President's quota. Though there is no official confirmation, the news is already doing rounds in the political circles of Tamil Nadu. To grist to the rumour mill, Illayaraja has recently written a forward to a book on Narendra Modi. The forward contained several laudatory references. Ilayaraja praised Modi and said he was a leader of rare qualities. Since then, there have been rumours that he would be made Rajya Sabha MP.
Sources say this could be part of the BJP's plans to strengthen itself in Tamil Nadu. It has already given an important nominated post to actress Khusboo, who joined the BJP ahead of the assembly elections. She was given the party ticket to contest, but she lost. To keep her in good humour, the party gave her a key post. Similarly, Illayaraja's nomination to Rajya Sabha is also being seen as an attempt to take roots in Tamil Nadu.
The BJP also tried to entice super star Rajinikanth into the BJP. Even Rajini hobnobbed with the top BJP leaders, including LK Advani and Narendra Modi for quite some time. However, he later decided not to join politics due to health issues. It remains to be seen how Illayaraja would help the BJP in becoming stronger in Tamil Nadu.