Tamil Nadu Assembly Election, Kamal Haasan will compete from Coimbatore (South)
Coimbatore:
With less than two weeks to go until the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, actor and politician Kamal Haasan is optimistic about his prospects and is confident that he and his budding team, the Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), will have a chance to work for the people of the southern state.
Speaking to NDTV from a hotel in Coimbatore, from where he will contest next month’s elections, he warned AIADMK and DMK, political powers in Tamil Nadu, that their job was to “evict the corrupt conglomerates.”
“Our purpose is not to qualify the media or other politicians … our goal is to dislodge corrupt conglomerates,” he said, adding, when asked if he would agree to be an opposition MLA instead, ” I’m absolutely fine. I’ll sleep well … but they (the ruling party MLAs) won’t. “
“Whether we are in power or in the opposition, this (the election) is a means to an end. It is ending already obsolete parties (another blow to AIADMK and DMK),” he said.
Kamal underscored what he feels is the current state of Tamil Nadu politics when referring to the exchange between AIADMK and DMK: that they are too busy yelling at each other accusations of corruption to prove the charges wrong.
“I think they work like my PR when yelling at each other like that,” he said with a smile.
This will not be Kamal’s electoral debut: the MNM contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. However, the results were poor. The party failed to win a seat and garnered less than four percent of the vote, although it showed promise in urban centers like Coimbatore.
And it is that promise he hopes to seize in state elections.
“We were a fledgling party for the Lok Sabha elections. Also, it was between Prime Minister Modi and Congress … that’s how most people viewed the elections. We were (minor) players. Now, in Tamil Nadu, we are true fighters for the cause … we are an alternative, “he explained.
Kamal also played down rivals’ comments that his decision to compete from Coimbatore, as opposed to Chennai, could backfire, given the ‘outsider’ label the BJP has floated. It will compete from Coimbatore (South), which is seen as a stronghold of the ruling AIADMK and, by extension, the BJP.
Kamal Haasan visits a flower market on his morning walk in Coimbatore (Archive)
“All electoral districts are open to contest. I think they are all mine (from your party) because our candidates are everywhere. But this is to prove a point … here (Coimbatore) is where communal disharmony is designed and I want to be a voice against that, “he said.
“Gandhiji was an outsider in Tamil Nadu … but that’s not how people see it. The people of Tamil Nadu backed MGR (MG Ramachandran, former chief minister) who was a Keralite by birth. This ‘outsider’ trick didn’t work. . If people love you, they love you, “declared Kamal.
The actor also referred to talking about how he could have allied with Congress, who have continued their alliance with the DMK. The two swept the Lok Sabha polls, winning all but one of 39 seats.
Kamal Haasan publishes his party’s manifesto ahead of the 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections (archive)
“Congress called us, we did not call them. We would have considered an alliance if they had parted ways with the DMK. Even then, they would not have been the lead partner,” he emphasized.
Kamal’s political adventure was half of a crossover story of mega-cinema-politics that took over the state (and the country). The other was the entry by superstar Rajinikanth, which appeared set in December of last year, only for the veteran actor to cite a “godly warning” and recant due to health concerns.
Kamal, who said the two could have allied themselves “for the good of the people of Tamil Nadu,” also said he respected Rajinikanth’s decision.
“It’s very obvious why he retired. It’s about his health. He’s a friend of mine, but when his life is on the line and he wants to make a call to resign, there’s nothing more (to say),” Kamal said.
The Tamil Nadu elections, the first since the deaths of former chief ministers J Jayalalithaa and M Karunanidhi, will take place in a single phase on April 6. Votes will be counted on May 2.
.
