Farmers Movement Archive

Kamal Haasan to launch election campaign for 2021 Tamil Nadu assembly elections

Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) party president Kamal Haasan will launch his campaign for the 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections from December 13, the party said. During his four-day schedule, Haasan will visit Madurai, Theni, Dindugul, Virudhunagar, Tirunelveli, Tuticorin and Kanniyakumari districts. Earlier last month, Haasan had said that his party would emerge as the “third front” in Tamil Nadu. With Tamil Nadu set to go to polls early next year, the political climate in the state is heating up. The Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) have announced that their alliance shall continue. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Congress are on track to fight the elections together. On December 3, Tamil superstar Rajinikanth also said on Twitter that he will launch his political party in January next year, adding that announcement about it will be made on December 31. The 69-year-old actor-turned-politician’s entry in politics had been speculated for over 25 years and his decision came three days after he held a meeting with the office-bearers and members of Rajini Makkal Mandram (RMM), a platform created three years ago to facilitate his entry into active politics. In 2017, Rajinikanth had announced that his party would contest on its own. On November 3, Kamal Haasan also declared that the party’s alliance is with the people, ruling out any partnership with AIADMK or the DMK. Haasan launched MNM in February 2018 but the party did create a stir in last year’s Lok Sabha elections. Although, the actor-politician has always managed to stay in the headlines. He recently slammed Tamil Nadu’s ruling party, the AIADMK, for supporting the three controversial farm bills and stressed the bills “attack the state’s autonomy”, and create a “dangerous situation wherein a state can do nothing amid scarcity or price rise”.

Hindustan Times

13-12-2020

India