New Delhi: Kamal Haasan, who took oath as a Rajya Sabha member on Friday, thanked BJD chief and former Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik for his ‘warm wishes’.
“Your statesmanship has long been an inspiration. I deeply value your words and will strive to serve with the same sense of duty and grace,” the Tamil actor-politician wrote on X.
Naveen had earlier congratulated the ‘cinema icon’ after on being sworn in as a member of Rajya Sabha.
“He can contribute immensely in the field of cinema, art and culture. Wish him a successful and fruitful tenure ahead in the upper house of Parliament,” Naveen posted on his X handle.
Thank you, Shri Naveen Patnaik ji, for your warm wishes. Your statesmanship has long been an inspiration. I deeply value your words and will strive to serve with the same sense of duty and grace. https://t.co/JcZVjZBtCC
— Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) July 25, 2025
At a time when the three-language policy, as envisioned in the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020, is being opposed by states like Tamil Nadu, the veteran actor Haasan sent out a strong message to mark his Parliament debut.
The 70-year-old actor, who founded the regional political party Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) seven years ago, took oath in mother tongue Tamil, drawing desk thumps from fellow Parliamentarians.
Haasan was nominated for Rajya Sabha membership with the backing of Tamil Nadu’s ruling DMK-led alliance, which had assured him a seat in the Upper House in exchange for MNM’s support during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
On June 12, Haasan and five others were elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Tamil Nadu. The other elected members were DMK’s Poet Salma (A Rokkaiah Malik), SR Sivalingam, P Wilson (re-elected for a second term), and AIADMK’s IS Inbadurai and Dhanapal.
A candidate needs at least 34 votes in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly to win a Rajya Sabha seat. With the ruling DMK-led INDIA bloc having a strength of 158 MLAs (DMK 133, Congress 17, VCK 4, CPI 2, CPM 2), it was well placed to secure four seats in Rajya Sabha.
Haasan’s party MNM had secured 2.62% of the vote share in the 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, but failed to win any seat.