MNM chief Kamal Haasan bets on walk, chats to canvass votes
Actor politician, Makkal NeedhiMaiam chief Kamal Haasan is betting big on casual interactionswith people like when he goes on a walk to canvass votes forthe April 6 Assembly polls.
Haasan, who is debuting from Coimbatore South Assemblyconstituency here, went for a walk in the flower market and RS Puram areas on Saturday morning and people vied with eachother to click selfies and converse with him.
After visiting Amman Kulam locality, he said people facedhardship to get access to even very basic amenities and vowedto address their issues.
His visit to a restaurant to have coffee saw fanssurround him. A man sung a popular number from his 1992Tamil flick Devar Magan and replaced the lyrics to suit thethe actors political innings.
The actor, all smiles, acknowledged the fans affectionby nodding his head.As several people tried to get close tohim, someone stepped on his foot by mistake, leading toswelling.
Since Haasan recently underwent a follow-up surgery onhis leg, doctors advise was taken and he was advised rest fora while and accordingly there would be some changes in hispropaganda schedule, MNM said.
Hassans nomination papers, meanwhile, has been acceptedby poll authorities following scrutiny, it said in a release.
The star value of the actor, active in the tinsel worldsince the 1970s, could be gauged from the fact that whereverhe went, a number of people tried to have a word with him orwished him well.
When he travelled to nearby Tirupur district in ahelicopter for campaigning, many locals turned up at thecollege ground, used as a helipad, to see him.
After he left the spot by road for poll propaganda, hischopper continued to be the centre of attraction and peopleeagerly took selfies in front of it.
Haasan, after choosing to fight from this textile city,has been staying here for about a week and personallyinteracting with people.
The other day when he travelled in an autorickshaw, ayoungster on a motorbike chased the three wheeler and wishedhim well.
He went on a walk around the site of a yet to becompleted overbridge and lashed out at the AIADMK governmentfor not completing the project and over corruption.
However, whether his cinematic charisma would translateinto votes and catapult his fledgling party into a decisivepolitical force remains to be seen.
Besides following the conventional campaign, DMKpresident M K Stalin, ahead of the 2016 Assembly polls,reached out to the people by going on a walk in every town hevisited and by having tea in local shops and so on.
In 2018, Haasan launched Makkal Needhi Maiam, pitching aCentrist line. His party garnered 3.77 per cent votes in the2019 Lok Sabha polls and got 15,75,640 valid votes out of the4,18,25,669, total valid votes polled in Tamil Nadu.
The MNM, which will be fighting the Assembly polls forthe first time, has firmed up an alliance with actorSarathkumar led All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi and IndiyaJananayaga Katchi.
AIADMK has been in power in Tamil Nadu since 2011 and DMKis putting its best foot forward to capture power from itsarch rival, while MNM has been trying to position itself asthe only alternative to the Dravidian majors.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Federal staff and is auto-published from a syndicated feed.)