Tamil actor-politician Kamal Haasan could begin a new role soon - that of a Rajya Sabha MP backed by the state's ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. The Makkal Needhi Maiam chief is due to meet Chief Minister and DMK boss MK Stalin at the ruling party's HQ in Chennai today.
Kamal Haasan will be offered that Rajya Sabha seat in this meeting, NDTV has learned.
The MNM and DMK are allies; the former backed the latter during the Lok Sabha election last year that saw the DMK-led bloc, which includes the Congress, win all 39 of the state's seats.
DMK sources told NDTV this week Kamal Haasan had been promised a Rajya Sabha seat in return for his party's support. The MNM was founded in 2018. In 2019 the party named candidates for all 39 seats. It won zero but got 3.7 per cent of votes from seats it contested.
On Wednesday sources confirmed the DMK had set aside one seat for the actor.
READ | Kamal Haasan's Party Names Him For Rajya Sabha Per DMK Deal
Six Rajya Sabha seats from Tamil Nadu fall vacant this month and the election to fill them will be held on June 19. At present the DMK holds three of those six.
The fourth is held by arch-rivals All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, or AIADMK, and the other two by regional party leaders Anbumani Ramadoss of the PMK and Vaiko from the MDMK.
Kamal Haasan launched the MNM in 2018 from Madurai as a party advocating transparency, governance reforms, and regional cooperation. The Rs 1,000 per month financial assistance for women implemented by this DMK government was one of the MNM's pre-poll promises.
The actor's continued support for the DMK-led alliance will be important given Tamil Nadu holds an Assembly election next year. In 2021, the MNM contested 202 seats across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. It did not win any but vote share in seats contested was 2.62 and 1.89 per cent.
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