QChennai: Actor Rajini Meets Secretaries of His Party & More

Here is your roundup of the top stories from Chennai.

This meeting comes amidst rumours that he will float a political party this April.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

1. Rajinikanth Preps for TN Polls, Meets Secretaries of His Party

A meeting with all the district secretaries comes after a year amidst rumours that Rajini will float a political party this April.(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

Actor Rajinikanth got fans and media guessing saying he is personally disappointed about an issue which he will reveal only later. Amidst much speculation, the actor met members of his party ‘Rajini Makkal Mandram’ on 5 March, at the Raghavendra Mandapam. He held a meeting at 10:30 am with 38 district secretaries of the party.

“I met with district secretaries after almost a year to check about status of party affair. They had made questions and I answered them. We discussed many issues. I am disappointed with one issue. I will reveal it at the right time,” said actor Rajinikanth. This meeting comes amidst rumours that he will float a political party this April.

Read the full story here.

2. AIADMK Functionary and His Friend Arrested for Assaulting Sivakasi Reporter

Sivakasi police on Thursday arrested an AIADMK functionary and his friend for assaulting Kumudam Reporter journalist Karthi on Tuesday evening and grievously injuring him. 40-year-old Pandiarajan alias Sellapandi, the AIADMK functionary and his friend, 43-year-old Murugan alias Poomurugan, are the two men who have been arrested. A police officer from Sivakasi said, “Both of them are rowdies. Murugan already has 11 cases against him. Sellapandi has 7 pending cases."

A report that recently appeared in Kumudam Reporter titled ‘Rajendra Balaji ai veezhthuvara Rajavaraman?’ that translates into ‘Will Rajendra Balaji be defeated by Raja Varman?’ by Karthi was the reason for the attack.

(Source: The News Minute)

3. Medical College Hospital at Omandurar Estate Becomes Fully Functional

After a long wait, the Government Medical College Hospital in Omandurar Government Estate has moved into the same campus from the temporary one in Triplicane. The facility was officially inaugurated by former chief minister J Jayalalithaa in 2015, along with the Multi Super Speciality Hospital.

The hospital had been functioning from Government Kasturba Gandhi Hospital for Women and Children (KGH) campus in Triplicane due to the construction works at the estate. The medical college attached to hospital, is the first government medical college in Chennai district inaugurated after the British colonial era.

(Source: The New Indian Express)

4. TN Actor Arrested for Allegedly Drugging, Raping and Blackmailing College Student

A month after he allegedly drugged, raped and videographed a 20-year-old woman, the son of veteran actor Sooriyakanth has been arrested by the Chennai police. The accused, Vijay Harish, who is starring in an upcoming film titled Naangalum Nallavangadhan, was arrested from one of the family's residences in the city where he was hiding.

The crime came to light on Tuesday night, when the woman who is studying in a private college in the city approached the Tiruvottiyur police with a complaint. According to her statement, she had known the accused for a year. In January, he had invited her for a birthday party at an apartment in Vaadikuppam. Once she reached there, he allegedly gave her a glass of juice laced with sedatives.

(Source: The News Minute)

5. Never Looked at Caste of Electorate: Chidambaram to HC

During cross-examination in connection with a case challenging his election from Sivaganga in 2009, former Union Minister P Chidambaram told the Madras High Court on Wednesday that he had “never looked at the caste of the electorate” and did not know the “number of voters in each caste” in the constituency.

Chidambaram’s response came to a question during the course of a more than two-hour long cross examination before Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana. He was asked if he knew that numerically, voters belonging to the caste of the election petitioner R S Raja Kannappan were more than any other caste in Sivaganga parliamentary constituency.

(Source: The Hindu)