Makkal Needhi Maiam which was founded a little over a year ago has taken the plunge to contest in the Lok Sabha Elections in 2019. The party released it’s first set of candidates who are contesting in 21 constituencies yesterday (March 20, 2019).
Makkal Needhi Maiam which was founded a little over a year ago has taken the plunge to contest in the Lok Sabha Elections in 2019. The party released it’s first set of candidates who are contesting in 21 constituencies yesterday (March 20, 2019).
But the elephant in the room was the big question - is Kamal Haasan going to contest in this 2019 Lok Sabha election and if so, from which constituency is he going to contest from? There were two cities that were earmarked for Kamal Haasan from the beginning. One was Chennai (South) and the other is Ramanathapuram which includes Paramakudi - his birthplace.
But as the closing date for nomination is nearing, sources are hinting about something that would surely be surprising and euphoric for Maiam and Kamal Haasan’s fans. We are hearing that serious negotiations are taking place for Kamal Haasan to contest from Coimbatore constituency. The pros and cons of contesting from Coimbatore are being discussed at the top level. This would mean that the recently appointed VP of the party, Dr Mahendran will be contesting from his hometown Pollachi.
It is to be noted that Kamal Haasan during his last 3-4 visits in January and February to Coimbatore and Pollachi had met with top influencers from various fields from the region to spread Maiam’s ideology and to understand the requirements of the city.
Though the news is still brewing, this is an interesting turn of events on many levels. Coimbatore being the most important city of the Kongu region has been a deciding factor in the last two elections. With the two major contestants from the DMK and AIADMK alliance already announced from CPI(M) and BJP respectively, Kamal Haasan contesting from Coimbatore would give him an ideological playing field as well. Maiam’s biggest critic (in social media) till now is that they are a B team of BJP or that Kamal Haasan is leftist.
With him contesting against these two parties head on, it would certainly put all these questions to rest. Also, he’ll be a fresh new face to bank on for the highly literate and knowledgeable crowd of Coimbatore who have never been very satisfied with both DMK and AIADMK or for that matter Congress or BJP.
“Coimbatore has always received step motherly treatment”
The public have always believed that the city has struggled to get its rightful due even after contributing so much to the GDP of the State. Basic amenities like continuous water supply, International Airport with great cargo facilities, support for modernising agriculture, conservation and revival of Noyyal and related waterbodies, scientific resolution for man-animal conflict, extremely bad roads have all been a byproduct of bad representation, lacklustre governance and lack of political will to tackle issues head on.
Kongu people have always believed till date that they have not got enough from their politicians and all the development in the region has been because of great entrepreneurs carrying the torch of development in their hands without government support.
With Kamal Haasan’s Maiam, there is a new alternative to look forward to by the people and if Kamal Haasan and Dr. Mahendran, Vice President of Maiam contest from Coimbatore and Pollachi, it will show great intent from the party that it really is taking the very important Kongu region seriously.
Speculation
With Kamal’s announcement that the next set of candidates will be announced from Coimbatore on 24th March, speculation is rife that Coimbatore could be the constituency that Kamal Haasan will be contesting from.
What do you think the actor-turned politician, Kamal Haasan should do? Should it be Ramanathapuram or Coimbatore? Let us know in our comments.
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