Actor-turned-aspiring politician Kamal Haasan has intensified his race into Tamil Nadu politics by announcing that he will begin his state-wide tour on February 21.
Kamal revealed this information at the cinema awards presentation ceremony of Tamil magazine Ananda Vikatan. He further said that he will disclose details of his plan soon.
He announced on Tuesday that he would start the yatra from Ramanathapuram, his birth place. Calling it a journey of discovery and learning, Kamal said that he would announce the name of his political party before the commencement of the yatra. He will visit Madurai, Sivagangai and Dindigul too.
"He will be visiting people from various communities personally during this trip and will work on understanding the problem plaguing politics. The motive is to build a support base through personal interaction," a source close to Kamal told TNM.
Kamal has apparently further emphasised that he would distance no one as far as his life and politics is concerned. "He will just sit in one place and do politics. He will actually visit people irrespective of religion or caste," says the source. "This is not a photo opportunity of any sorts either," he adds.
The plank on which Kamal will seek support will be 'development, growth and corruption free governance'.
"This yatra will not cause any controversy or seek to politicise religion or caste," says the source.
Over the past few days Kamal Haasan has been meeting many of his confidantes and has been reaching out to a number of people to understand how his journey should be charted.
Kamal's official announcement of starting his own political party comes days after Rajinikanth made his decision to enter politics clear
Kamal Haasan was presenting an award to Music Director Ilayaraja when he made the announcement.
The 'maestro' as he is often called asked the actor why he had not informed him before taking a plunge into politics. For which Kamal replied, "It was you who first insisted that I join politics. So I will take your blessings and begin my yatra on January 26. I will announce further details in the Anantha Vikatan magazine on January 18."
Kamal Haasan writes a regular column in the Tamil magazine and had earlier said that the delay in the launch of the party was not due to fear but due to the need for meticulous planning.
In November, Kamal Haasan had announced that he will be launching an app named Maiyam in January. However, actor Rajinikanth beat him to launch his app Rajini mandram and is already working towards consolidating supporters in various districts.