MNM Hung Out To Dry: Congress Rejects Kamal Hassan’s Offer Of Alliance In Tamil Nadu While Backing Traditional Ally DMK

The Congress party has turned down the actor turned politician Kamal Haasan’s offer to align with the party if they snapped ties with ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), reports TNIE.

Kamal Haasan had launched a political party Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) in February of this year. He had recently indicated that he would be open to an alliance with the Congress after meeting party president Rahul Gandhi in June while opposing both the ruling party All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the opposition DMK.

Despite mentioning him as his good friend, DMK leader Duraimurugan has labelled the actor as “politically immature”.

"Preconditions do not help; nothing is permanent in politics. The common goal was to dislodge the "anti-people" Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre.", claimed a Congress leader when asked about MNM’s offer.

The Congress has further promised the old ally DMK a pivotal role in decisions of the alliance in Tamil Nadu to overthrow the ruling BJP-led government in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls,

"There was absolutely no question of joining hands with any other party without the DMK, "a trusted and long-time ally," said All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary Sanjay Dutt to DMK President M K Stalin when the latter called on him on Saturday (10 November), revealed Congress sources.

The alliance to help the Congress solidify their position is being led by the DMK president who has the authority to decide, in consultation with other allies, if a party like the legendary actor’s MNM could help their cause or not, added the sources.

Dutt met DMK President at his residence in Chennai to further strengthen their bond and to quell any doubts ahead of the formal round of negotiations for seat-sharing for next year's General election.