Despite drawing a blank in the recent Lok Sabha elections and the Assembly bypolls where all its candidates lost their deposits, the fledgling Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) of actor Kamal Hassan will contest the upcoming elections to local bodies in Tamil Nadu to carve out its own political space.
As part of its strategy, the party is reaching out to villages ahead of the civic polls expected in August. Last week, the party took part in the gram sabha meetings across the state with Kamal Hassan addressing audiences at 72 places through video conference from his office in Chennai.
The MNM’s vote share of 3.72% and reasonably good performance in urban pockets in the Lok Sabah elections has encouraged Kamal Hassan to push ahead.
In the Coimbatore Lok Sabah seat, MNM vice-president Dr. R Mahendran got 1.44 lakh votes while in South Chennai former IAS officer, R Rangarajan polled 1.35 lakh votes. In places like Madurai, Salem, and Tirupur, the party has secured sizeable chuck votes, rattling the Dravidian majors, ruling AIADMK and the opposition DMK.