Actor Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), which was not invited to the meeting of Opposition parties in Bengaluru, is undecided on joining a coalition, despite its “close relations” with the Congress.
Mr. Haasan supported the Congress on key issues, walked long Rahul Gandhi in his Bharat Jodo Yatra and participated in the swearing-in of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Against this backdrop, Mr. Haasan was expected to take part at the Bengaluru meeting wherein 26 Opposition parties formally named their alliance I.N.D.I.A.
Instead, Mr. Haasan was in San Diego where he took part at the ‘Comic Con’ to talk about his film, Kalki 2898 A.D., in which he plays the villain opposite actor Prabhas.
Did the Congress, which remains the fulcrum of the Opposition alliance, not invite Mr. Haasan to the meeting, despite asking smaller parties in the DMK-led alliance, including the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi and the MDMK?
MNM general secretary A. Arunachalam said the party had developed close relations with the Congress as both held similar positions on several issues.
However, he said, “We extended support to the Congress on several issues. We are yet to decide on joining their alliance as we are strengthening our party base in the Lok Sabha constituencies across Tamil Nadu. We will decide on the alliance closer to the elections. Since this was a meeting of alliance partners, we didn’t feature at it,” he said.
Likewise, actor Vijayakant’s Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), once an ally of the BJP, was not invited to the NDA’s recent meeting in Delhi. Sources in the DMDK pointed out the party had exited the NDA after being a part of it in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
“We aren’t part of the NDA. We came out of it in 2021 and we formed an alliance with T.T.V. Dhinakaran’s Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam. This may be why we weren’t invited to the NDA meeting. Madam Premalatha Vijayakant [the party treasurer] will decide on the alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha election,” a party leader said.
In 2019, the AIADMK-led NDA in Tamil Nadu allotted had four seats to the DMDK. Its candidates lost in all seats.
