Over a year after actor Kamal Haasan officially entered politics, his party, the Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), has announced an alliance with Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress.
As of now, the alliance will be for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Lok Sabha constituency only and Haasan will campaign for the Trinamool candidate there on April 6.
The actor-turned-politician met the West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo on Monday afternoon, after which the alliance was announced.
“The meeting was excellent. We are now proud to say that MNM is in alliance with the Trinamool Congress for Andaman. And we hope this special relationship evolves,” Haasan told reporters after the meeting.
The Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands has only one Parliamentary seat; and the Trinamool Congress has announced Ayan Mandal as its probable candidate. In 2014, the BJP won the Lok Sabha seat.
Both Haasan and Banerjee are known to be vehement critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP. While, the former has not tied up with any party so far, the latter has played a leading role in stitching together an anti-BJP alliance.
“We have an alliance with the Makkal Needhi Maiam in Andaman. Haasan will be present at the public rally there on April 6,” Mamata Banerjee told reporters.
When asked whether Haasan intends to campaign for Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, the actor-turned-politician said he “could consider” the option. “Right now, the focus is on Andaman. I have a small regional party and I will focus on my region. We will think about it step by step,” Haasan said.
The actor had on Sunday announced that he would not contest either the upcoming Lok Sabha polls or the Tamil Nadu bypolls which will be held along with the general elections.
However, Haasan’s MNM is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.