Our alliance is with people: Kamal Haasan; Makkal Needhi Maiam may contest in 2021 Tamil Nadu elections independently

Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) is likely to contest in the 2021 Assembly elections on its own without aligning with any political party with its chief Kamal Haasan on Monday announcing that “our alliance is with the people.”

Haasan made the announcement during a meeting of district secretaries' here on Monday during which the party's strategy for the Assembly election was discussed. MNM, which was launched in 2018 by Kamal Haasan on the plank of an alternative to the two Dravidian majors, contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and garnered nearly 4% votes.

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“(Deciding on) Alliance is my job. Everyone should work for our victory. Our alliance is with the people,” the actor-politician told his office-bearers at the conclusion of the day-long deliberations. Haasan's announcement came after the party had last month authorised him to take a call on the alliance.

MNM also released photographs of a specially-designed vehicle to be used by Haasan for his election campaign next year. Party sources said Haasan will tour the entire state to campaign for the party before and during the elections.

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Tamil Nadu will face its most crucial poll in the first half of 2021 and this will be the first time MNM will be contesting the Assembly elections. As of now, the fight is between the ruling AIADMK and principal Opposition DMK and MNM.

Haasan's long-time friend in the tinsel town Rajinikanth had last week dropped hints that he may reconsider his 2017 announcement that he would contest the Assembly elections due to Covid-19.

Party sources said the MNM will put up candidates in all 234 Assembly constituencies and give a “tough fight” to the mainstream political parties. In the 2019 elections, the MNM candidates did perform better than nominees of AIADMK rebel T T V Dhinakaran's AMMK in urban areas.