Blow to Kamal Haasan ahead of 2021 Tamil Nadu polls; MNM Gen Secy Arunachalam jumps to BJP

In a blow to Makkal Needhi Maiam chief and actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan, his party's general secretary has joined the BJP on Friday, even as Haasan himself is on the campaign trail for the upcoming Tamil Nadu assembly elections. A Arunachalam who was appointed to the core team of the MNM joined the BJP in the presence of union minister Prakash Javadekar at the party's office in Chennai. Arunachalam, who is an advocate by profession, hails from a village in Tuticorin district. It is said that the groundwork for establishing Haasan's party in rural Tamil Nadu was laid by Arunachalam.

READ | '7 point governance for Tamil Nadu, no alliance with Kazhagam parties': Kamal Haasan

Following the move, Tamil Nadu BJP leader Khushboo Sundar said, "As far as BJP is concerned it is gaining the trust of people when people have been saying that BJP cannot make a mark in the South; but we have proved them wrong. We have proved ourselves in Kerala and Telangana. We have even won in Jammu and opened an account in Kashmir. The confidence that people are showing in BJP is tremendous and the fact that everyone is joining BJP is because they believe in the leadership of PM Modi. Our door is open for all and we work for people." Khushboo, herself an actor-turned-politician has joined the BJP from Congress mere months earlier.

READ | Kamal Haasan Open To Being Rajinikanth's 'CM Face'; Will Speak On Alliance In January

Kamal Haasan's campaign for 2021 Tamil Nadu assembly elections 

Kamal Haasan has started his campaign for the Tamil Nadu polls and is currently in its second leg. He has said that he will not ally with the Kazhagam parties and if his ideology matches that of Rajinikanth - who is due to launch his party in January 2021 - then he is open to discussing the idea of an alliance with him and is ready to be his CM face as well. The Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) chief has also released a 7-point governance plan for Tamil Nadu, highlighting that the theme of his campaign is "Seeramaipom Thamizhagathai." His 7-point governance and economic agenda includes schemes like 'Green Channel Government', 'Online Homes', 'Providing Urban Opportunities in Rural Areas' (PUORA), 'Women enrichment' among others. To woo the women voters, Haasan also assured ‘payment’ to homemakers for their work at home, a computer with high-speed internet to all households and the transformation of farmers to agri-entrepreneurs. He also promised to put an end to sand mining and to rejuvenate the rivers.

While launching his party at a public meeting in Madurai in February 2018, Haasan had said that his party will fulfil the vacuum in Tamil politics. He had also launched a party flag which showed six interlocked hands. The meaning, he had explained, was co-operation between the Southern states of India. In the Lok Sabha elections, the party contested 36 seats but did not win any, though the 2021 assembly polls are its first and potentially last true test. 

READ | Rajinikanth, Haasan Joined Politics To Ensure DMK Doesn't Win Tamil Nadu Polls: MK Stalin

2021 Tamil Nadu polls

Two warring factions in AIADMK - of Deputy CM O Pannerselvam (OPS) and CM E Palaniswamy (EPS) - have reconciled after the party named incumbent Palaniswamy as its CM candidate and Panneerselvam as the chief of the 11-member steering committee. While AIADMK has a coalition with BJP, the saffron party is reportedly also in talks with MK Stalin's estranged brother Alagiri as well as superstar Rajinikanth who has often praised PM Modi. The 234 seats in Tamil Nadu assembly will be going to polls in May next year.

READ | DMK Chief MK Stalin Sets Aim For 2021 Tamil Nadu Polls: 'We Will Win 200+ Seats'