Kamal Haasan set to be elected to Rajya Sabha, DMK and allies allot seat

Chennai: Makkal Needhi Maiam, an ally of Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK, on Wednesday declared its president Kamal Haasan as its nominee for the June 19 biennial election to the Rajya Sabha.

Seventy-year-old Kamal Haasan is all set to become a member of the Upper House for the first time as the DMK, together with its allies, could easily get him elected and three others as well. MNM named its candidate immediately after the DMK's announcement of allocation of an RS seat to the actor-politician-led MNM.

The governing council and administrative committee of the MNM, in a meeting presided by party general secretary A Arunachalam, passed a unanimous resolution naming party chief Haasan as its candidate to the Upper House and formally requested support from allies.

Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin congratulated Haasan and said he was happy that the MNM top leader's voice would echo in Rajya Sabha to protect Tamil Nadu's rights, the Constitution and nation's pluralism.

Haasan thanked Udhayanidhi for his greetings.

DMK President and Chief Minister M K Stalin announcing the allocation of a Rajya Sabha seat to MNM said it was in conformity with a pact inked with the actor-politician-led party before the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

As 6 Rajya Sabha members including MDMK chief Vaiko from Tamil Nadu are set to retire in July, the Election Commission announced polls on June 19.

The DMK has named 3 candidates and the main opposition AIADMK, which is expected to announce 2 candidates could get elected the 2 nominees with support from allies including the BJP.

Though DMDK had claimed that the AIADMK assured it of one RS seat, it was not confirmed by the Dravidian party and it remains to be seen if the AIADMK would field two candidates or allot one seat to an alliance partner. A contest is unlikely and all the official nominees of the parties are likely to be declared elected.

Haasan joined Tamil Nadu's political scene by launching the Makkal Needhi Maiam on February 21, 2018 in Madurai and he was 63-year old at that time.

He batted for "centrism," signified by his party's name "Maiam," and supported the Dravidian ideology, the Left principles and often hailed reformist leader 'Periyar' EV Ramasamy and Mahatma Gandhi's ideals.

However, his party found it pretty tough to make a real impact in the state's electoral politics dominated by the two Dravidian giants, the DMK and AIADMK. In its political journey, MNM drew a blank in local polls and could not win any seats in other elections.

Haasan himself was defeated by BJP's Vanathi Srinivasan in Coimbatore South Assembly constituency in 2021 Assembly polls.

Following the defeat in 2021, a string of senior leaders including then vice president R Mahendran and former IAS officer Santhosh Babu deserted MNM. Mahendran later joined the DMK.

An undeterred Haasan famously declared at that time that he would be in politics till such time he was alive and his party would exist till such there was politics.

Ahead of the 2024 LS polls, MNM struck a poll deal with the DMK and Haasan's party was assured by the Dravidian party of a RS seat in 2025. MNM was, however, not allotted any seat by the DMK in the 2024 LS polls.

A native of Ramanthapuram district in southern Tamil Nadu, Kamal Haasan is renowned for his unparalleled acting skills, talent, innovation and cinema knowledge. He is hugely popular as a cinema star in Tamil Nadu ever since he debuted in 'Kalathur Kannamma' (1960) as a child artist.