By Express News Service

CHENNAI: BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has branded superstar Rajinikanth, who has been considering a plunge into politics, as ‘illiterate’ and ‘a cheat’.

The attack on the actor has been carried prominently on the Rajya Sabha MP’s Twitter page for the past two days. It started with a tweet on Friday, when he posted, “Rajinikant will be another Shree 420 like the Delhiwala.”

Shree (‘Mr’ in Hindi) 420, also a classic Hindi movie, refers to the Indian Penal Code section which carries punishment for the offence of cheating.

On Saturday, Swamy again took a swipe by tweeting, “Illiteracy of RK 420 is that even his famous cinema monologue is scripted by someone else behind the cameras.”

This sudden tirade against the actor by Swamy assumes significance, as his own party is said to have made overtures to lure Rajinikanth to its fold.

In the past, Rajini met several BJP leaders including L K Advani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Even recently, party president Amit Shah was reported to have said that Rajini was welcome to join the BJP.

In the last few weeks, Rajini met delegations of farmers as well as far-right Hindu nationalistic groups, fuelling speculation that he might at last decide to take the political plunge.

He himself admitted on Thursday that there had been discussions and that an announcement would be made, once it was finalised.

Meanwhile, several fans have taken to social media platforms to defend the actor against Swamy’s charges.