Chennai: With the recently-concluded Assembly by-elections, conducted along with the Lok Sabha polls, reassuring the stability of the AIADMK government, led by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, top stars Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan have set their eyes on 2021 when Assembly elections are slated to happen in the State.
Both ‘Thalaivar’ and ‘Nammavar’ have made their political ambitions clear, with Kamal already floating his party and contesting the polls, and Rajinikanth starting the Rajini Makkal Mandram, a precursor to the party.
Sources in the camps of Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan told News Today that strategies are being worked out to face the 2021 Assembly elections and professionals have been roped in for the purpose.
Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam has hired the services of popular poll strategist Prashant Kishor’s Indian Political Action Committee for a bomb and I-PAC has started working on the ‘project’ from Monday.
When asked how MNM, a fledgling outfit, could afford I-PAC, sources said, “Only to meet the expenses of MNM, Kamal is hosting Bigg Boss and acting in films like Indian 2. He had borrowed loans too.”
Last week, in an apparent bid to strengthen MNM ahead of the 2021 Tamilnadu Assembly elections, Kamal announced new general secretaries and zonal heads to steer his outfit at the grassroots-level.
Kamal, who led MNM to a vote share of 3.72 per cent in the recent Lok Sabha elections, renamed the incumbent general secretary A Arunachalam as general secretary for coordination “to further strengthen the party at the booth-level in all constituencies across Tamilnadu”.
Retired IPS officer A G Maurya is the general secretary for north and east region, and former IAS officer R Rangarajan will be general secretary for propaganda – both new positions.
Senior functionary V Umadevi will be the general secretary for party wings and retired IAS officer Basheer Ahamed will be general secretary for the president’s office, said a party release.
Sources close to Rajinikanth said an agency was recently assigned the task of conducting a survey about what people of Tamilnadu want and the results were encouraging. “Voters are looking for a change, a positive one, and only Thalaivar can provide it.”
Rajini, who is lately actively seen on political and cinema stages, is simultaneously acting in films too. If sources are to be believed, he would float his political party during the first-half of 2020 at a grand rally in either central or western Tamilnadu. “This will be followed by fireworks in Tamilnadu political arena, as many seniors from other parties are in touch with Rajini,” added sources.