Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) will not contest in the byelections to Thiruparankundram and Tiruvarur Assembly constituencies, party leader Kamal Haasan has said.
“The party will not contest the two bypolls. It may also not contest the local body elections. It will, however, closely observe the elections,” the actor-turned-politician told reporters here on Wednesday.
Besides observing the elections, the MNM would also comment on the developments and tell the people what is good for them. The party did not want to contest the bypolls since it was preparing for a bigger election, Mr. Haasan said, referring to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Responding to a question on the rising fuel prices, Mr. Haasan said the MNM’s stand was that the price hike was not in the public’s interest. But some people were not countering the ruling BJP’s opinions. This was against the ethos of democracy, he said. To a query on BJP leader H. Raja’s recent outburst against the judiciary, he replied, “Whoever it may be, they should neither criticise the judiciary nor the police.”
When asked about the party’s stand on the demand for the release of the seven life convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, Mr. Haasan said though the legal battle had been a long-drawn-out one, nothing should be done in haste now. “What is honest, legal and just should happen with regard to the issue,” he said. On the controversy over certain luxuries being given to some inmates of Puzhal prison, he said corruption had spread from the Secretariat to the prisons.
