A day after a campaign video posted by MNM chief Kamal Haasan hinted that deceased medical aspirant Anitha's family supported his party in the Lok Sabha elections, the girl's brother came out with a clarification. Maniratnam, Anitha's eldest brother, has revealed that while he has great respect for the actor turned politician, he and his family will be voting for VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan who is part of the DMK alliance.
In the video posted on Friday, Kamal Haasan warned voters about choosing the wrong candidates. He says that many people would vote for whom their parents suggest. And while he says this is correct, he asks people to think about which parents to listen to.
"Ask the parents of the girl whom the whole government conspired to kill, they will tell you who not to vote for. When unqualified people are leading this nation, I ask as someone who questions this, as someone who is part of all of you. Who will you vote for?" he asks.
நம் விழியில் எரியும் கோபம், நம் விரல்களில் வெடிக்கட்டும்!
— Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) April 12, 2019
புது வெளிச்சம் பிறக்கட்டும்!
வாக்களிப்பீர் #டார்ச்லைட் சின்னத்திற்கு.
உங்கள் நான். pic.twitter.com/MUdNCjSsgb
In response to this, Maniratnam has written in his post, "I am a true fan of respected and loved actor Kamal. And this is not just for his acting. Both in reel and real life, he tries to break barriers and is brave enough to do what he thinks is right, no matter what others say. He is someone who dissolved his fan clubs to create welfare associations. He was my inspiration to donate blood and sign to donate my organs. I am happy if anyone new comes to politics and on that note, I congratulate my brother Kamal and his party. Like brother Kamal said, my family and I are very certain about who to not vote for. We will never vote for the fascist BJP party. When Anitha died, the man who said he won't let it go - Thirumavalavan, is the candidate from our constituency. DMK is a party that has the power to stop the Centre from conducting NEET exams, a party that upholds social justice, a party that will not give up the right of the state and one of the few parties that will ensure the basic protection of Tamil Nadu."
He further goes on to declare who his family will vote for.
"The alliance led by the DMK leadership has ensured the Congress' manifesto says that NEET will be removed and this has given us hope. Therefore, our vote is for the DMK led Secular forward alliance candidate Thirumavalavan (he is deserving of the post).”
Though Anitha had four brothers, she was closest to Maniratnam who fuelled her dream of becoming a doctor. It was Maniratnam who signed Anitha’s petition against NEET in the Supreme Court, since she was a minor.