Kamal Haasan on campaign trail ahead of Tamil Nadu polls, 2nd phase to begin from Dec 20

As the poll season is set to begin in Tamil Nadu, Makkal Needhi Maiam chief Kamal Haasan's to conduct the second phase of election campaign on December 20, 21 and 22 in the Kanchipuram and Villupuram constituencies. In his first phase of the election campaign, Haasan proclaimed that his party will fulfill AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran's dream to establish Madurai as the second capital of Tamil Nadu. With his campaign titled 'Let's Renovate Tamil Nadu', Kamal Haasan visited districts in Madurai, Theni, Dindigul, Virudhunagar, Nellai, Thoothukudi and Kanyakumari from December 13-16.

Meanwhile, Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) moved the Madras High Court, seeking allotment of 'battery torch' symbol in its favour. The party had filed a writ petition before the Court for directing the Election Commission of India to allot the battery torch symbol, a release from MNM said. It wanted to restrain MGR Makkal Katchi from using the same.

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Kamal Hasan's Makkal Needhi Maiam

The Vishwaroopam star had launched his party in a public meeting in Madurai in February 2018, saying that MNM will fill the vacuum in Tamil politics. He also launched his party flag which shows six interlocked hands which symbolised co-operation between the Southern states of India. In the Lok Sabha elections, the party contested 36 seats but did not win any and also failed to open its account in the Tamil Nadu by-polls.

While both Kamal and Rajini have been open to alliance with each other,  the Dravidian parties are also vying to ally with the susperstars. Though Kamal has actively campaigned for polls, Rajini has said that he will reveal his party's name on December 31, naming his office-bearers to his fans, promising to practice 'spiritual politics'. DMK chief MK Stalin eyes his maiden CM term as DMK cannot afford to lose a third straight Assembly election after sweeping the state in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls with 38 seats.

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Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections 2021

The two warring factions in AIADMK - of Deputy CM O Pannerselvam (OPS) and CM E Palaniswamy (EPS), reconciled after the party named incumbent E Palaniswamy as its CM candidate and O Panneerselvam as the chief of the 11-member steering committee. With AIADMK announcing it will continue its national alliance with BJP, the saffron party is yet to officially announce its state-level alliance. Meanwhile, ex-CM Karunanidhi's successor - DMK chief MK Stalin eyes his maiden CM term as DMK cannot afford to lose a third straight Assembly election after sweeping the state in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls with 38 seats.

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READ | Kamal Haasan sounds poll bugle; vows to make Madurai 'Tamil Nadu's second capital'