In Kamal Haasan’s party joining DMK alliance, one gets a star campaigner, the other a Rajya Sabha seat

The decision on Saturday is to give MNM one seat for the 2025 Rajya Sabha polls, reflecting a broader strategy to consolidate support while managing electoral dynamics. While the deal primarily focused on campaign collaboration, it is significant as the decision is also about DMK adding one more party to their coalition framework.

“My party and I are not contesting this election. But we will give all cooperation to this alliance. We have joined hands as this is not just for a position, this is for the nation,” Haasan said, elaborating on the ideological alignment and common cause between the MNM and the DMK.

MNM’s commitment includes extensive campaign efforts across Tamil Nadu’s 39 Lok Sabha constituencies and one seat in Puducherry Lok Sabha constituency.

Previously, the DMK had finalised seat-sharing arrangements with key allies, repeating its 2019 formula, including VCK, CPI, CPI(M), IUML, MDMK and KMDK.

Haasan, since launching the MNM in 2018, has been a vocal advocate for change in Tamil Nadu. Despite the party’s defeats in both the 2019 Lok Sabha and 2021 Assembly elections, and the subsequent exodus of all top leaders, Haasan views the alliance with the DMK as critical for survival.

In the last two years, Haasan’s political journey was also about joining the Bharat Jodo Yatra with Rahul Gandhi, revealing his keen interest to stay alive in politics. His affinity with the Congress was known in the political circles as he tried to align MNM with the DMK coalition during the 2021 Assembly elections itself through the help of Congress but DMK resisted seat sharing with the MNM.

MNM’s electoral performance, garnering a 3.72% vote share in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and a 2.52% in the 2021 Assembly elections, reflects both its impact and its challenges. Notably, in Coimbatore and South Chennai, MNM’s strong performance in 2019, with 1.44 lakh and 1.35 lakh votes respectively, continue to be the leverage it has in political negotiations even today. Despite a declining vote share in 2021, MNM’s third-place finish in nine seats during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections played a role in DMK considering them in the alliance in 2024.