Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam, which he launched in 2018, failed to create an impact in the Tamil Nadu polls as it did not manage to win a single seat. Despite maintaining a lead from his constituency, Coimbatore South, at the start, the actor-turned politician ended up losing to BJP’s Vanathi Srinivasan by 1,728 votes. Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam had contested in 38 parliamentary constituencies and 19 bye-poll seats in 2019 but failed to make an impact then too.
MNM was presented as an alternative to the “corrupt and dynastic Dravidian parties”. The party contested the polls in an alliance with actor Sarath Kumar’s All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi and Indhiya Jananayaga Katchi. It fielded candidates in 154 of the total 232 seats. While Kamal managed to poll just over 33 per cent of the votes in Coimbatore South, the rest of the candidates from his party, failed to make an impression in their respective constituencies. Kamal’s poor performance could also be hinting at the diminishing political capital of cinema stars.
Kamal Haasan launched his political party Makkal Nidhi Maiam (MNM) in 2018. Kamal has often stated that Makkal Nidhi Maiam is neither politically aligned to the left nor right, accusing both the right and left parties of compromising on the interests of the people and committing grave mistakes in the party’s website. Although the party was popular among the younger voters, it did not translate into votes.
Meanwhile, Kamal Haasan's elder daughter, Shruti Haasan, shared a message for her father on Instagram after her father’s defeat. "Always so proud of my Appa," wrote Shruti Haasan, sharing a picture of her father on Instagram Stories. She also added the hashtags #Terminator and #TheFighter to her Story.
