Kamal Haasan Set For Rajya Sabha As DMK Keeps Its Word

Chennai: Eminent actor Kamal Haasan is set to become a Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament after the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) decided to nominate him to the Upper House.

Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin called on Haasan at his residence on Thursday to congratulate him.

“We met the leader of the Makkal Needhi Maiyam – Kalaignani @ikamalhaasan sir at his residence today as a courtesy. My love and gratitude to Kamal sir for welcoming us warmly and exchanging views on various fields such as politics and art. @maiyamofficial,” Udaynidhi wrote in Tamil on X, and shared a couple of pictures.

A day earlier, PK Sekar Babu, senior DMK leader and minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments, had met Haasan at his office.

DMK had reportedly assured Haasan a Rajya Sabha berth as part of its electoral pact with the actor’s MNM party in 2024. MNM, which did not contest last year’s Lok Sabha elections, extended full support to the INDIA-bloc led by the DMK in Tamil Nadu.

After signing an agreement with with DMK president and Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin last March, Haasan said his decision to align with the DMK-led bloc was driven by national interest rather than personal political gains.

“I shook hands where it had to be, since this is about the country. I am not going to contest. But this (INDIA-bloc) alliance will have our full support. Since it is not for a position but for the country,” Haasan had said.

Haasan launched MNM in 2018, but his party faced setbacks in the 2019 Lok Sabha and 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, when MNM contested alone.