Chennai: For the first time since its formation in 2018, Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), a party founded by actor and politician Kamal Haasan, endorsed another party in an electoral contest in February 2023
Haasan campaigned for E.V.K.S Elangovan — former Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president and grandson of social reformer Periyar — in the Erode East by-election. Elangovan was a candidate of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-Congress alliance, which MNM openly supported.
Ten days later, on 28 February, Haasan inaugurated a photo exhibition on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin in Chennai, ahead of the DMK chief’s 70th birthday celebrations. When asked about a possible alliance with the DMK, Haasan then reportedly said, “Can’t say about the alliance now, we have to move scene by scene and not go to climax now. Scene by scene should carry the story.”
Addressing Stalin as a friend, he said that their relationship was beyond politics. “Son of a great leader, CM (Stalin) is the one who has reached this position gradually by accepting the challenge.” He also reportedly said that his party was politically aligned with the DMK during the same event.
Over the past year, Haasan has been seen getting closer to the DMK, though there is no formal talk of an alliance yet. With the party being in limbo since the 2021 assembly elections, allying with the DMK may serve as a lifeboat for MNM, to help keep it afloat and motivate the cadres, considering Haasan has been more focused on his “films and television show”, observed political analysts.
“Kamal is not a serious politician and does he even have a trace of a politician is a question mark. He has been more focused on his movies and television shows. He said he is going to create a revolution and clean up the system, but there has been no initiative so far,” political analyst and author J.V.C. Sreeram told ThePrint.
Following the demise of former chief minister and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) chief J. Jayalalithaa, when there was talk about a political vacuum in the state, many expected that actor Rajinikanth would join politics, opening a new chapter in the state politics.
In 2017, Haasan announced his entry into politics, and on 21 February 2018, started his journey from former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s residence in Rameswaram.
He held a series of public rallies in Rameswaram, Paramakudi, Manamadurai and finally ended the day in Madurai, where he announced the launch of his party, its name, flag and purpose.
The party, on its official page, notes that the MNM stands for centrism and its main policies are welfare of the people, eradicating casteism, upholding social justice, eliminating the discrepancies in the government machineries, achieving equality in imparting education on par with international standards, devising progressive water management and protecting soil, hailing the antiquity and embracing the innovations of technology, and reviving the lost political honour of Tamil Nadu.
Just 14 months after the launch of the party, in its first electoral contest in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the party sprang a surprise and won a vote share of 3.72 percent. However, the following state assembly polls of 2021 saw a dip in their performance, with a vote share of 2.62 percent.
With the Lok Sabha elections closing in and alliance talks kick-starting in different camps, MNM Tuesday announced that Haasan had set up the Election Work Coordination Committee with party vice-presidents A.G. Mourya and R. Thangavelu and party general secretary A. Arunachalam as its members.
“In the executive committee meeting held last week (23 January) it was decided that the office bearers will have to start focusing on booth-level committees and make the party stronger at the grassroots. We have been advised to start the election preparation and be prepared for both scenarios — party contesting alone in all seats or contesting in alliance,” said a senior MNM member on condition of anonymity.
After the meeting, Mourya had told reporters that the party had two conditions for forming an alliance — first, no compromise on Tamil Nadu’s development and welfare, and second, the alliance partner should be in sync with Kamal Haasan’s policy and ideology.
ThePrint looks at the journey of the MNM and its alliances and factors that could prove essential for its election run in the upcoming general elections.
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Haasan and DMK-Congress alliance
On 24 December, 2022, Haasan joined Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra and addressed a gathering at the Red Fort. This was seen as a clear indication of the actor-politician and his party moving closer to the Secular Progressive Alliance. The DMK alliance with Congress and other parties, including CPI, has been called the Secular Progressive Alliance in the state. The alliance has been there for both 2019 Lok Sabha and 2021 State assembly polls.
Haasan, who was to produce a movie with Udhayanidhi Stalin in the lead role, was seen congratulating the young politician when he was made a minister in the Stalin cabinet.
In a post on X, Haasan said, “Congratulations brother Udhayanidhi Stalin. You have become a minister. I hope you will not think of it as a position but accept it as a responsibility and the experience of three generations will help you. There are expectations. Your success lies in fulfillment.”
When Udhayanidhi was embroiled in the Sanatana Dharma controversy, where the DMK scion had said, “Sanatana is like malaria and dengue and so it must be eradicated rather than opposed”, Haasan spoke up in support of Udhayanidhi and said that a “young child (Udhayanidhi)” was being targeted for speaking about “Sanatana”, which was spoken about by his forefathers and Periyar.
He added that the DMK minister was entitled to his views on the issue. “If anyone disagrees with his viewpoint, it is important to engage in a discussion based on the merits of Sanatana, instead of resorting to threats of violence, legal intimidation tactics, or distorting Udhayanidhi’s words to evoke emotional responses for narrow political gains,” Haasan said, adding that the hallmark of a true democracy is the ability of its citizens to disagree and engage in continued discussion.
The hallmark of a true democracy is the ability of its citizens to disagree and engage in continued discussion. History has repeatedly taught us that asking the right questions has led to important answers and contributed to our development as a better society.@Udhaystalin is…
— Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) September 7, 2023
However, according to author and political analyst Maalan Narayanan, the MNM chief has been silent on key issues in the state like government staff on old pension scheme, transport and corporation worker arrears, among others.
“Him (Haasan) not taking a stand might be because he doesn’t want to embarrass the DMK government, which is struggling with finances. Ultimately, Kamal will go and land up in the lap of the DMK, probably because he is in a dire need to keep his party floating,” Narayanan added.
MNM journey so far
Five years ago, Haasan had said that his party was not Left or Right but Centre. Unlike other state parties, his MNM, which roughly translates to “People’s Justice Centre,” did not have Katchi or Kazhagam (party or front) in its name, which was part of Dravidian party names in the state.
He had back then stated that he had adopted both Dravidianism and nationalism in his party. His party’s symbol of a white background with six human hands — three each in white and red — forming a circle with a big black star and a smaller white star within it, he said, is a symbolic representation of the six south Indian states, and the star at the centre is to represent the people. The black colour in the symbol was a representation of the Dravidian ideology, he added.
In its first elections in 2019, the party fielded candidates in 36 of the 38 constituencies (election to the 39th constituency Vellore was cancelled by the Election Commission). Of the 36 seats, MNM emerged in third place in 11 — cutting into the votes of the DMK and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).
In the 2021 assembly elections, MNM in alliance with smaller parties like Indhiya Jananayaga Katchi (IJK) and Samathuva Makkal Katchi (SMK), had contested from 180 seats of the total 234 and garnered around 2.62 percent vote share.
The party, however, had fared well in urban constituencies — in Chennai, it came third in 12 of the 16 constituencies.
“MNM performed well in urban seats. They had got the anti-incumbency, urban and Brahmin votes and the party ensured the urban votes did not go to AIADMK. People who did not want to vote for the DMK and were angry with Dravidian politics, voted for Kamal Hassan; he was used as a vote cutter in 2021,” explained analyst Sreeram.
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Key factors for Haasan to win election
However, after the defeat in 2021, the MNM also failed to make a mark in the urban local body elections. Many of Haasan’s close aides in the party also called it quits. Former bureaucrat Santhosh Babu, the party’s then vice-president R. Mahendran, ex-general secretary M. Muruganandam, and businessman C.K. Kumaravel quit the party alleging a lack of democracy in it.
According to political analysts, it is now time for Haasan to shift his focus on his party if he wants to continue in politics.
Speaking to ThePrint, analyst Narayanan noted four things Haasan required to win the elections. “First is optics. Kamal Hassan is very poor in optics. Despite being a popular person, he has not been able to make a big impact as a politician. Even compared to the BJP state president K. Annamalai, Kamal has not made much impact,” he said.
The second factor, he said, was perception. “And the perception is that Kamal is not serious about politics. He has missed a lot of opportunities in voicing key issues relevant in the state.”
Narayanan noted that the third factor was a connection at the grassroots level, and here again, there is a drawback for Haasan, who has not made much impact in the rural vote share.
Finally, the last key factor for electoral success, the analyst noted, was the transferability of votes if he goes for an alliance. “If Kamal goes with the DMK, the chances of transferability of votes and his winning are high. Even if he is not able to win, he will be able to get a sizable number of votes,” he noted.
But, according to analyst Sreeram, “He (Haasan) is not going to have a big impact in the upcoming polls.”
Three successive electoral failures and the prolonged inactivity of the party since 2021, have raised doubts among the party cadres, highlighted analysts.
“Hassan has still not given a blueprint on what he is to do for the party next,” said Narayanan, adding that cadres and people expect parties to speak aloud the people’s problem, call for protest and conduct protests and display activities.
“AIADMK was criticised for being a silent Opposition, and a party like the MNM also needs to be relevant and vocal on its stand,” he highlighted.
The cadres join a party in the hope of getting some position electorally or through appointments, and if Haasan were to fail, then the party members will start looking at other options and new parties to jump to.
“Vijay’s (actor Vijay) fan club being speculated to be converted into a political party will seem like an alternative option, especially, for first-time voters,” noted Narayanan.
2024 Lok Sabha alliance
For the MNM, the best option in the upcoming polls is to go with an alliance, Sreeram said, stating that the party that polled 3.72 percent in the 2019 parliamentary polls “will have only 1.5 percent vote share now. Seeman’s Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) polled a vote share of 6.8 percent in the 2021 assembly election.”
According to party sources, Haasan in September 2023 had shared his intention to contest from Coimbatore in the 2024 general elections during a party functionaries meeting.
The MNM chief, who had contested from the Coimbatore South constituency in the 2021 assembly polls, was defeated by a margin of 1,540 votes by the BJP’s Vanathi Srinivasan.
But with MNM faring well in urban constituencies and with the party polling 1.45 lakh votes in the 2019 elections, the constituency seems like a preferred seat for the MNM, said political analysts.
“Communist Party, which has a strong presence in Coimbatore, might not accept to give away that seat, similarly another possible seat of Chennai South, which again saw the MNM perform well in 2021 assembly polls, might not be a seat that the DMK would want to give away,” noted Sreeram.
During the MNM’s launch, Haasan had emphasised that his party’s fight would be against corruption, communal politics, cash for votes and as an alternative to the two dominant Dravidian parties — the AIADMK and the DMK — which has been alternatively ruling Tamil Nadu since 1967.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was the chief guest in the February 2018 party launch, had then reportedly said, “I congratulate Kamal Haasan on giving an alternative to the people of Tamil Nadu. Till now, the state was stuck between two corrupt parties (AIADMK and DMK). Like the people of Delhi, I can see now it is the time for this state to free itself from corruption. If you want schools, hospitals, roads and electricity; if you want an honest government, vote for Kamal Haasan.”
Six years after the launch, Kejriwal is part of the INDIA bloc along with the DMK, and very soon Haasan, too, might look at the DMK and INDIA bloc as an option for the upcoming polls, claimed analysts.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)