Chennai: Veteran actor Kamal Haasan is set to make his parliamentary debut with the support from ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu.
Chief Minister and DMK Chief M K Stalin on Wednesday announced that the actor-turned-politician would contest from one of the four Rajya Sabha seats from the state which will go to polls on June 19. The nomination is part of a seat-sharing arrangement agreed between DMK and Haasan’s party Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The ruling party’s nominees for the remaining three seats are sitting MP and senior advocate P Wilson, Salem East district secretary and former legislator S R Sivalingam and party spokesperson and noted writer Rokkiah Malik, popularly known as poet Salma.
The MNM has also formally named Haasan as its nominee following meetings of the party’s executive and administrative committees on Wednesday. The members also sought the support of the DMK and other alliance partners for him.
Haasan had launched MNM on February 21, 2018, with a vision of alternative governance.
On Monday, the Election Commission announced elections for eight Rajya Sabha seats — two in Assam and six in Tamil Nadu. While the ruling DMK-led alliance appears set to win four vacant seats in Tamil Nadu, while the AIADMK and its alliance partner PMK will seek to retain the two seats they currently hold.
