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Alliance talks on for Lok Sabha elections: Kamal Haasan
Actor-politician Kamal Haasan on Wednesday said discussions were on to form an alliance ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, asserting his Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) will support any coalition that “selflessly” thinks about the nation.
Actor-politician Kamal Haasan on Wednesday said discussions were on to form an alliance ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, asserting his Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) will support any coalition that “selflessly” thinks about the nation.
While Haasan, whose party completed six years on Wednesday, was evasive about speculation of joining the opposition INDIA bloc, people familiar with the matter said the MNM is likely to join hands with Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin-led Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and contest the general elections this summer together.
“I have already told this is the time when you have to blur party politics and think about the nation. Anybody who thinks selflessly about the nation, my MNM will be part of it,” Haasan, 69, told reporters after leading his party’s anniversary function. “If you are playing local feudal politics, we won’t be part of it.”
When asked if his party would join the multi-party opposition bloc against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he said discussions are on and that it “will not be proper to reveal details.”
Formed in 2018, MNM contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the 2021 Tamil Nadu elections by itself but drew a blank in both electoral contests. While his party got 3.7% vote share, predominantly from urban areas, in the last LS polls, its performance dipped in the 2021 state elections with the party bagging a mere 2.5% vote share.
Speculations of Haasan joining hands with Stalin-led party have been doing rounds for the last few years, especially after the MNM sided with the DMK-Congress alliance for the Erode East bypoll and backed Congress candidate EVKS Elangovan. Haasan had also waled alongside former Congress president Rahul Gandhi during his south-to-north Bharat Jodo Yatra in 2022-23.
People familiar with the matter said the DMK is likely to offer one Lok Sabha seat to Haasan’s party to contest in the general elections this summer or an option to get one Rajya Sabha berth.
A senior DMK leader, requesting anonymity, said discussions are underway with the MNM. “We are trying to convince him (Haasan) to contest on our (rising sun) symbol,” the leader said.
Last year, Haasan had expressed interest in contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Coimbatore even though he lost from the city to BJP’s Vanathi Srinivasan in the 2021 assembly polls.
