Actor-politician Kamal Haasan's Makkal Needhi Maiam has called for online applications from party members to select candidates for the Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Assembly elections. Applications will open on Sunday, February 21, and potential candidates must pay ₹ 25,000 to be considered, the party said. It added that non-party members could also apply or be nominated. The Tamil Nadu and Puducherry elections are scheduled for May. Haasan's party has been allotted the "battery torch" symbol, which it used when it contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election.