Kamal Haasan meets Sonia Gandhi, downplays alliance
The actor-turned-politician had on Wednesday met Congress president Mr. Rahul Gandhi at his residence and held similar discussions.
New Delhi: Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) president Mr. Kamal Haasan on Thursday met UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi here and discussed the political situation prevailing in Tamil Nadu.
The actor-turned-politician had on Wednesday met Congress president Mr. Rahul Gandhi at his residence and held similar discussions.
“I have met Sonia Gandhi and we discussed the political situation in general in Tamil Nadu,” he told the reporters after the meeting with Mrs. Sonia Gandhi. Mr. Haasan was in the national capital to register his party with the Election Commission of India.
The meeting of Mr. Haasan with the Congress president and UPA chairperson led to speculation of an alliance between the Congress and Mr. Haasan’s new party. When asked Mr. Haasan said, “It is to early to decide.”
Mr. Kamal Haasan and Mr. Rajinikanth, the other superstar set to launch his political party, were seen to target filling a leadership gap in Tamil Nadu politics after the death of former chief minister Ms J. Jayalalithaa of the AIADMK. During the swearing-in ceremony of Mr. HD Kumaraswamy as the Chief Minister of Karnataka, Mr. Haasan was also present.
It is there, Mr. Haasan said, that he had first met Mrs. Sonia Gandhi and Mr. Rahul Gandhi. They had exchanged pleasantries and agreed to stay in touch and he was following up on that interaction. Interestingly actor-turned-politician Haasan did not meet any other political leader in the national capital.
Insiders say that he was supposed to meet the Delhi Chief Minister Mr. Arvind Kejriwal but since Mr. Kejriwal left for Bengaluru for his treatment the meeting could not take place. Ahead of his party's formal launch, Mr. Haasan did take tips with Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party that came to power in national capital Delhi within years of its launch.