DMK Poised to Nominate Kamal Haasan for Rajya Sabha
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Synopsis
Tamil film star Kamal Haasan is expected to be nominated to the Rajya Sabha by DMK, following a meeting with Minister P.K. Sekar Babu. This development comes after Haasan's significant support for the DMK-led alliance in the recent elections.
Key Takeaways
- Kamal Haasan may receive a Rajya Sabha nomination from DMK.
- Haasan's party, MNM, is part of the INDIA bloc.
- DMK won all 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu.
- Chief Minister M.K. Stalin assured Haasan of the seat.
- Haasan's political journey has seen ups and downs.
Chennai, Feb 12 (NationPress) The renowned Tamil film star and politician Kamal Haasan is anticipated to receive a nomination for a Rajya Sabha seat from the DMK. On Wednesday, Tamil Nadu Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments P.K. Sekar Babu visited Haasan at his home, sparking rumors regarding this development.
Kamal Haasan, who established the political party Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), joined forces with the INDIA bloc during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and actively campaigned for the DMK-led coalition in Tamil Nadu. This alliance achieved a remarkable victory, capturing all 39 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
Sources within the DMK indicate that Chief Minister and party leader M.K. Stalin had assured Haasan of a Rajya Sabha position in exchange for his support during the general elections.
With six Rajya Sabha seats set to become vacant in June 2025, Sekar Babu reportedly met with Haasan to communicate CM Stalin's promise of nomination.
The spokesperson for MNM, renowned Tamil filmmaker Murali Appas, confirmed that the party is expected to receive a Rajya Sabha seat but emphasized that Kamal Haasan will choose the candidate. He mentioned that Haasan would engage with party officials before arriving at a final decision. While acknowledging the meeting between Sekar Babu and Haasan, he refrained from providing further specifics.
Founded by Kamal Haasan in Madurai on February 21, 2018, MNM was designed as a platform advocating transparency, governance reforms, and regional cooperation. Its party flag, which features six interlocked hands, symbolizes unity among the southern states of India (five states and one union territory).
In the 2019 general elections, MNM captured a 3.72 percent vote share in the constituencies it contested. It performed notably in urban areas such as Chennai, Coimbatore, and Madurai, where it garnered over one lakh votes in certain regions. However, its performance in rural constituencies was disappointing, leading to all its candidates losing their deposits.
The party ran independently in the 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections but did not secure any seats. Kamal Haasan himself lost the Coimbatore South constituency to the BJP’s Vanathi Srinivasan by a margin of 1,728 votes.
A significant setback occurred in the 2022 urban local body elections, where MNM contested 140 seats but failed to win a single one.
During the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Haasan supported the INDIA bloc and campaigned for the DMK-led alliance in Tamil Nadu. As part of the political agreement, the DMK consented to award one Rajya Sabha seat to MNM in 2025. Given the recent meeting between Kamal Haasan and P.K. Sekar Babu, it appears increasingly likely that the star-turned-politician is on the verge of joining Parliament’s Upper House.
