Chennai: As the exodus continued post the debacle in the 6 April Assembly elections, the Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) founded by actor-politician Kamal Haasan is fast disintegrating, so to speak.
According to sources, a few more leaders would come out of the party in the days to come.
Senior MNM leader and businessman C K Kumaravel announced that he was quitting the party citing the party’s poor show in the polls due to wrong guidance given to the party Founder by his political advisers.
Their narrow focus of just winning in one seat (Coimbatore South), had rattled the expectations and confidence the public had in MNM, he said.
Kamal contested from Coimbatore South and lost the polls narrowly to BJP’s Vanathi Srinivasan.
In his letter to Kamal, Kumaravel said, “I quit the party in 2019 and re-joined with the hope that only MNM can bring change. That expectation was also among the public”.
The party’s chances were bright after Kamal’s campaign in November and December, when the torch light symbol–which was given to the party in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls–was allotted to the party. After actor Rajinikanth announced his decision not to enter politics, people had large expectations about the MNM, he added.
“We the had best chance to create history. Instead, we are made to read the history,” Kumaravel, who is also the founder of Natural Salons, said.
“Though the MNM had all the qualifications to sit in the opposition in the Assembly we were not able to win even a single seat,” he said.
“Already people who have quit the party have mentioned the reasons for our defeat and you will know there is truth in it and I don’t want to add more,” he said.
Kumaravel was the latest top leader to walk out of MNM after general secretary Muruganandam quit the party Wednesday, citing lack of democracy in the party.
It all started with the party vice-president Mahendran first walking out of the MNM. He was followed by former IAS officer and general secretary Santhosh Babu, activist Padma Priya–both unsuccessfully contested the polls.
Persons like Kumaravel, Mahendran and Babu have made a mark in their respective fields and brought credibility and acceptability for MNM.