Deadlock in talks between DMK and Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) ended on Saturday with actor-politician Kamal Haasan climbing down and accepting a Rajya Sabha seat for next year. MNM had submitted a wishlist of three Lok Sabha seats and one Rajya Sabha seat.
Kamal Haasan visited DMK headquarters Anna Arivayalam at noon and signed a pact with DMK president and chief minister M K Stalin in the presence of senior leaders.
Sports minister Udhayanidhi Stalin was also present. “I am not going to contest. But this (DMK-led) alliance will have our full support. Since it is not for a position but for the country, I have shaken hands where I should shake hands,” Haasan told reporters later.
As per the poll pact between the leaders, MNM would campaign for the DMK-led alliance in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry for the Lok Sabha polls.
At least six Rajya Sabha seats would fall vacant in June next year when terms of MPs N Chandrasegharan (AIADMK), Anbumani Ramadoss (PMK), M Shanmugam, Vaiko, P Wilson, and M Mohamed Abdulla (all DMK) end. Kamal Haasan’s MNM took the electoral plunge in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, contesting in 36 LS seats and a lone Puducherry seat. The party drew nil but secured third position in 13 Parliamentary constituencies and polled a vote share of 3.6%.
In the subsequent assembly election, MNM contested in 180 seats, predominantly in the urban pockets and polled 2.62%. The party lost election deposit in 178 seats. In 2021, Haasan lost by a slender margin.
