Actor-turned-politician and Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) chief Kamal Haasan, a well-known DMK stooge, is all set to be sworn in as a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, 24 July 2025, marking his official entry into the Upper House of Parliament with the backing of the ruling DMK.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the swearing-in ceremony, Haasan said, “I am going to take the oath and register my name in Delhi today. I am going to fulfil this duty with honour given to me as an Indian.”
The MNM founder’s nomination to the Rajya Sabha comes as part of a political arrangement with the DMK-led alliance, which MNM formally joined in March 2024. In the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, MNM chose not to contest and instead campaigned in support of the DMK and its allies. In return, the DMK allocated one of its Rajya Sabha seats to Haasan, a move that solidified MNM’s alignment with the ruling coalition and effectively ensured his unopposed election, given the alliance’s strength of 158 MLAs in the 234-seat Tamil Nadu Assembly.
Kamal Haasan’s political ascent to the Rajya Sabha comes despite MNM’s limited electoral footprint. The party secured just around 4 percent of the vote in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and won 2.62 percent in the 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, where Haasan himself narrowly lost the Coimbatore South seat to BJP’s Vanathi Srinivasan. Nevertheless, the DMK rewarded his support with an Upper House seat following the 2024 alliance.
Haasan filed his nomination on 6 June 2025, in an event held at the Tamil Nadu Secretariat in Chennai. The ceremony was attended by top DMK leaders including Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, along with representatives of alliance partners such as VCK’s Thol. Thirumavalavan, MDMK’s Vaiko, and Tamil Nadu Congress president K. Selvaperunthagai.
However, Haasan’s nomination stirred debate given the timing and symbolism surrounding the event. A vocal rationalist and frequent critic of religious customs, Haasan has previously declared that “saffron is the colour of violence” and openly dismissed religious rituals as “superstitious nonsense.” Yet, his nomination was filed on what astrologers deemed an auspicious day and notably after the inauspicious Rahu Kalam period ended, prompting criticism of hypocrisy from observers who noted the contradiction between his rationalist rhetoric and apparent adherence to astrological customs.
Critics point out that MNM’s vote share in past elections would not have merited a Rajya Sabha seat under normal democratic circumstances, but that political patronage secured Haasan’s entry.
(With inputs from News18)
Subscribe to our channels on Telegram, WhatsApp, and Instagram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.
