Kamal Haasan's Leap From Acting Career To Politics Awaits Big Test

Tamil Nadu Assembly Election 2021: Kamal Haasan is contesting the Tamil Nadu election from Coimbatore South constituency

Actor-politician Kamal Haasan undertook a 170-km political tour from Rameswaram to Madurai in February 2018. The reason - he had to announce the name of his party, Makkal Needhi Maiam, which means "People's Justice Centre". The 66-year-old actor took his entry into politics rather slow. He had waited for months after announcing his political ambition and held many consultations before the launch in February 2018, one year before the Lok Sabha election in which his party took part in its first political fight. Though Mr Haasan's party did not win any seat in Tamil Nadu in the national election, its performance then in terms of vote share was seen as one that could become a threat to the AIADMK and the DMK in future, which is now. The Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) got 3.72 per cent votes in the 35 constituencies it contested in the 2019 general election, which was no mean feat for a party that was launched just over a year before the national election.