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With DMK allocating one Rajya Sabha seat to Makkal Needhi Maiyam, its founder and actor Kamal Haasan has been named the candidate for the Upper House of the Parliament.
Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) leader Murali Appas said, "We have passed a resolution to elect Kamal Haasan as a Rajya Sabha member from Makkal Needhi Maiam party." Besides, the ruling DMK combine has named its three candidates for the Rajya Sabha election scheduled for June 19 this year. According to a release of the DMK, Salma, Advocate P Wilson, and SR Sivalingam are its candidates. In the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, each candidate requires a minimum of 34 votes to clinch a Rajya Sabha seat. The DMK-led INDIA bloc, with 158 MLAs (DMK: 133, Congress:17, VCK: 4, CPI: 2, CPM: 2), is poised to win four seats comfortably Actor Kamal Haasan launched Makkal Needhi Miam at a public meeting in Madurai in 2018. Makkal Needhi Miam did not contest in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, and instead it campaigned for the DMK-led INDIA bloc in the State. In return, the DMK had promised a Rajya Sabha seat for the party. Makkal Needhi Miam had secured 2.62% of the votes in the 2021 State Assembly election. Meanwhile, Kamal Haasan has courted a political controversy with his alleged remarks claiming that "Kannada has its roots in Tamil." In a strongly worded post on X, BJP Karnataka State President Vijayendra Yediyurappa demanded an unconditional apology from Haasan, accusing him of displaying arrogance and an ungrateful attitude towards the Kannada community, despite having acted in Kannada films and benefited from their generosity. "One should love one''s mother tongue, but showing disrespect in its name is uncultured behaviour. Especially artists should have a culture of respecting every language. It is the height of arrogance that an actor, Kamal Haasan, who has acted in many Indian languages, including Kannada, has insulted Kannada by including actor Shivarajkumar in the glorification of his Tamil language," the BJP MLA from Shikaripura stated. He further emphasised the historical significance of Kannada, asserting that the language has been a "prominent language" and well-respected in many regions across the world. "Kannada has been a prominent language in many parts of the world, including India, for centuries. The fact that Kannada is the most respected language in the world should be known to narrow-minded people like Kamal Haasan. Kamal Haasan, who has also acted in Kannada films before insulting Kannada, has forgotten the generosity of Kannada and Kannada people and has revealed his ungrateful personality," Yediyurappa added. (ANI)
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