Actor and politician Kamal Haasan has said that his party is ready to face bye-polls in the state. Speaking at a press conference at his residence in Chennai on Wednesday, Kamal was responding to a question on whether he expected the bye-elections to take place.
“There would be a possibility. I cannot say that there definitely would be. If there are (bye-polls), Makkal Needhi Maiam will be prepared for that too,” he said.
Speaking about the need for clean politics, Kamal Haasan said that people had expressed their regret for having accepted cash-for-votes at the place he had visited.
Elections to 20 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 party’s legislator AK Bose and former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.
Denying that he was a tool in the hands of another party, he said, "We have a long way to go. But we have grown at a faster rate than we had expected."
Earlier in October, Kamal had also ruled out an alliance with Tamil Nadu's largest state parties -- the DMK and the AIADMK -- and hinted at talks for an alliance with the Indian National Congress ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Kamal also said that he will embark on a tour of Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri to meet people.
The actor, who made his political debut in February this year, and actor and politician Rajinikanth, had recently received flak for not focusing on politics full time.
Meanwhile, Kamal Haasan will be completing his film Sabaash Naidu before going ahead with the Shankar directorial Indian 2, which is the sequel to Indian, which released 22 years ago. The actor-turned-politician also announced a sequel to his 1991 film Thevar Magan.