Congress leader Dinesh Gundu Rao on Saturday claimed that “many Bharatiya Janata Party people” were now associated with actor Rajinikanth, who is set to launch his political party in January, PTI reported.

Rao also said that it was too early to assess the impact of Rajinikanth’s party in Tamil Nadu, since there was no clarity yet about its ideology and whether it would contest 2021 Assembly elections independently or with an alliance partner.

“What is his party structure, what exactly he is going to do, nobody knows”, Rao, who is All India Congress Committee’s Tamil Nadu in-charge, said. “Till then, how can we judge anything? Is he going to be with the BJP...what he wants to do...that all has to be seen.”

On Thursday, Rajinikanth had said that he would announce his party on December 31 and launch it in January next year, ending years of uncertainty about his entry into politics.

“With great support from people, in the upcoming Assembly elections, an honest, righteous, transparent, corruption-free, casteless, secular and spiritual politics will be formed in Tamil Nadu for sure,” the actor had said in a statement. He also declared that he was “ready to sacrifice” his life for the people of Tamil Nadu.

Also read: ‘Ready to sacrifice life’: Rajinikanth to launch political party in January, will contest TN polls

Rajinikanth had announced his entry into politics on New Year’s Eve in 2017. However, ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he refused to contest the polls or enter into an alliance with any political party.

In October, the actor had said that he would take a decision on entering politics at an “appropriate time”. His comments came after a letter containing details on the actor’s poor health was shared widely on social media. The letter, which was believed to be written by Rajinikanth himself, indicated that his plans to join politics were doubtful due to health concerns amid the coronavirus pandemic. The actor disowned the letter, but admitted that its content about his health was true.

Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu are scheduled to take place next year. In November, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Bharatiya Janata Party had confirmed that they will contest the elections together.