Kamal Haasan will contest TN polls from Coimbatore South
Veteran film actor Kamal Haasan, founder of the Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), the party hustling to create a fresh alternative in Tamil Nadu politics, is set to make his electoral debut from the Coimbatore South constituency in the 2021 state Assembly elections. He made the announcement today while releasing his party's second list of candidates. Here are more details on this.
'A battle for soil, language, people of TN'
"I see in the battle in Coimbatore South, a battle for the soil, language, and people of Tamil Nadu. It is not me who will win this, it will be all of Tamil (sic)," Haasan, 66, wrote on Twitter this afternoon.
Haasan will take on BJP and Congress candidates
Haasan will be taking on candidates from both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress in the said constituency. Reports suggest the parties are likely to field Vanathi Srinivasan and Mayura Jayakumar, respectively. Notably, Vanathi is the National Women's Wing President of the saffron party. However, both of them had lost to the AIADMK candidate in the 2016 elections.
Other MNM candidates include former bureaucrat Santosh Babu
Some other names that have been declared in MNM's second list include Dr. Subha Charles from Kanyakumari, Dr. R Mahendran (Singanallur), Dr. Santosh Babu (Velacherry), and Pazha Karupiah (T Nagar). Santosh Babu, a former bureaucrat, had earlier been fielded from the Villivakkam constituency. The party had released its first list of 70 candidates for the polls on Wednesday.
Haasan had launched MNM in 2018
Haasan had launched the MNM in 2018. For the upcoming polls, it has been raising corruption, employment, developing villages, and e-governance as the key issues in its campaign. The party has also promised remuneration to homemakers and free computers with internet to all homes. In the 2019 general elections, the MNM had won 3.72% of the total vote share on the seats it contested.
TN Assembly elections due on April 6
The MNM is fighting the elections in alliance with actor Sarathkumar's All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi (AISMK) and the Indhiya Jananayaga Katchi. Both the allies will contest on 40 seats each. The ruling AIADMK will be in alliance with BJP while the DMK with Congress. Tamil Nadu Assembly elections will be held on April 6 and the results will be declared on May 2.
