Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan has said that his party would decide whether he is to contest in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The Makkal Neethi Maiam chief was speaking to reporters in Pollachi, Tamil Nadu after inaugurating his party office in the area. In December last year, Kamal had said he would contest all the 39 parliamentary seats in Tamil Nadu in the general election, but "would not align with those desperate to change the DNA" of the state.
In response to a question on whether he himself would be a candidate, Kamal said, "The party will decide that. It is not a matter that I can decide individually."
In reference to his earlier comments that he would ally with parties that are unified in opinion, he clarified, “People having unified opinions are those that want Tamil Nadu to improve and relieve Tamil Nadu from the clutches of corruption.”
Amidst political ambitions, the first-look poster of his film Indian 2 released on Monday. This would be the sequel with director Shankar's Indian where Kamal played the role of Senapathy, a freedom fighter turned self-styled vigilante. However, recently Kamal said that he would not mix acting and politics.
Speaking to reporters at the Chennai Airport recently, Kamal said, “Acting is business. Politics is my desire. I won't mix the two.” When asked how the public should view him playing a political leader in his upcoming film Indian 2, he said, “It has to be seen as a leader acting. More than that, if there are any relevant social messages, I will come out and speak about it. There is no need to say it only through cinema anymore.”
Kamal Haasan had also recently said the party would decide on contesting in the bye-polls for 20 Assembly seats whenever these are announced. Bye-polls to 20 Assembly constituencies are due in the state following the disqualification of 18 MLAs who pledged their support to RK Nagar MLA and AMMK chief TTV Dhinakaran, as well as following the deaths of the AIADMK legislator AK Bose and DMK President M Karunanidhi. Kamal had said that he would announce the number of members his party has on January 31, adding the party has empowered him to decide on electoral alliances.