"Our motive is not to oppose Rajinikanth or Lyca or seek

publicity. If Lyca thinks so, it is sheer imagination," VCK founder Thol Thirumavalavan said.

Lauding Rajinikanth for his "maturity" in understanding the issue in the right context, he asked what kind of political mileage one could derive out of this issue.

"It is laughable if one believes opposing Rajinikanth's Sri Lanka visit or an anti-Lyca stand will endear people to them. In fact, the fears of Tamils in the Northern Province is that the Sinhala rulers are trying to derive political mileage out of the issue," he said in a statement.

The former MP said there was no need for him to take a stand opposed to Lyca and that he was never opposing their rehabilitation efforts for Tamils.

VCK only did not find the present situation "conducive" for the actor to visit Sri Lanka, Thirumavalavan said, adding, his party opposed it as it wanted to ensure Lankan government did not gain advantage out of the event.

Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi (TVK) founder T Velmurugan, who had also opposed the visit, could not be reached for a comment immediately.

Rajinikanth had yesterday announced his decision to cancel his Lankan visit, after Thirumavalavan and Velmurugan, besides MDMK founder Vaiko, had requested him to do so.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)