Kamal Haasan's Makkal Needhi Maiam allies with Stalin's DMK for Lok Sabha polls

Kamal Haasan has said that his party Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) has entered into an alliance with the Chief Minister MK Stalin-led Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The actor-turned-politician made the announcement in Chennai on March 9, saying that his move to join the alliance was done for the sake of the country and not for any consideration for post.

"My party and I are not contesting this election. But we will give all cooperation to this alliance. We have joined hands as this is not just for a position, this is for the nation," he said, extending "full support" to the alliance.

According to the deal, Hasan's party will extend support to DMK in 39 seats in the Lok Sabha elections and the solitary Puducherry segment. In exchange, the DMK has decided to allot one seat to Hasan's party for the 2025 Rajya Sabha elections.

Haasan's political move shouldn't surprise anyone as he had expressed his leanings with the ruling party and by extension the Congress-led alliance, several months ago

Kamal Haasan was earlier seen joining Rahul Gandhi's Nyay Jodo Yatra in Tamil Nadu in December 2022.

He had also defended MK Stalin's son Udhayanidhi during the 'Sanatana Dharma' controversy, saying" a young child (Udhayanidhi) was being targeted just because he spoke about Sanatana".

Founded in 2018, the party contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the 2021 Assembly polls, but faced heavy defeat.

Meanwhile, PTI news agency, quoting DMK sources, reported that the DMK and its ally Congress are likely to finalise their seat-sharing deal by Sunday

Negotiations on the seat agreement are currently underway and are expected to conclude over the weekend.

In the 2019 general elections, both parties agreed on seat-sharing, resulting in a sweeping victory by securing 38 of the 39 Lok Sabha seats, with the Congress winning 8 out of the 9 contested.

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