Kamal Haasan said his party would contest in all 39 seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in elections 2019.
Highlights
- Kamal Haasan launched Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) in February last year
- Kamal Haasan welcomed allotment of "battery torch" as party symbol
- Superstar Rajinikanth, has decided to skip the upcoming Lok Sabha polls
Actor-turned-politician Kamal Hassan's party has been allotted “battery torch” as a symbol for the national elections, the dates of which will be announced this evening.
Welcoming the decision by the Election Commission, Mr Hassan said that his party, - the Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) - will "endeavour to be the torch-bearer for a new era in Tamil Nadu and Indian politics".
While the two powerful parties in Tamil Nadu having announced their respective alliances - AIADMK with the BJP, the DMK with the Congress - Kamal Haasan's party has decided to contest alone in all the 39 constituencies in Tamil Nadu and the lone seat in Puducherry.
Kamal Haasan's party was launched last year. He had recently said that his party is the "A Team" of Tamil Nadu, and expressed confidence that it would emerge victorious in every election to come.
The other superstar from Tamil Nadu, Rajinikanth, who has also joined politics, has decided to skip the upcoming Lok Sabha polls to focus on the 2021 Tamil Nadu elections.
This is the first election after the deaths of J Jayalalithaa and M Karunanidhi.
The Election Commission of India has allotted common symbols for 39 newly registered political parties across the country. Makkal Needhi Maiam has got “battery torch” as a common symbol, CPI-ML has been allotted “flag with three stars” as a common symbol and the Sikkim United Front has been allotted with “telephone”.