Kamal Haasan's 'end to obsolete parties' jibe at DMK, AIADMK

Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan, whose Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) party is one of the contenders in this year’s Tamil Nadu assembly elections, in an apparent reference to the DMK and AIADMK, said that it’s time to put an end to the already obsolete parties.

The jibe of the former Tamil matinee idol came during an interview with NDTV. Haasan, confident about his prospects in the election slated for April 6, said in a stern warning to the two Dravidian majors that his job was to “dislodge corrupt conglomerates”.

He said that whether he’s on the ruling side or the opposition camp, this election will mean bringing an end to the “already obsolete parties”. Pointing out at the corruption allegations levelled by the two parties against each other, he jibed that they act like his “PR”.

The AIADMK and DMK are the two major Dravidian parties that have been ruling the state on alternate occasions. The AIADMK, in power since 2011, is seeking a third term in a row but the first in the absence of charismatic former chief minister J Jayalalithaa. The election will also be fought for the first time in the absence of DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi.

Kamal’s MNM had taken its poll plunge during the 2019 Lok Sabha election but this year’s election will be its first at the state level. The MNM did not win any seats in 2019 and had bagged less than four per cent of the total votes.

However, setting aside the 2019 elections, Kamal believes his party is an alternative in the state. He called the parliamentary polls held about two years ago, “Modi vs Congress fight”, and that the MNM was only a “[minor] player,” “nascent party” back then.

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Kamal will be fighting the state election from the Coimbatore South seat in Coimbatore that is seen as the AIADMK and the BJP’s stronghold. He said that this is because Coimbatore is where “communal disharmony is engineered” and he wants to oppose that.

He also protested the “outsider” tag given to him by the BJP, saying even Mahatma Gandhi was an outsider, “but that is not how people see him.” He said the “outsider” trick won’t work against him.