Kamal Haasan to contest from Coimbatore South as Tamil Nadu gets battle-ready

Kamal Haasan, actor and chief ministerial candidate for the Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), will contest the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections from Coimbatore South. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress will also be contesting from the constituency.

Haasan, who is also his party’s chief, released the second list of candidates contesting from his party on Friday. The MNM is in alliance with the Indhiya Jananayaga Katchi (IJK) and fellow actor Sarathkumar's All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi (AISMK). Both the parties will contest in 40 seats.

Haasan’s name was not included in the first list released by the party on Wednesday, generating rumours that the actor might be contesting from Alandur, where former chief minister and AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran had won twice.

On the same day, deputy CM O Panneerselvam filed his nomination from Bodinayakanur as the AIADMK candidate.

"Today I've filed my nomination from Bodinayakanur. I've been a winning candidate for the past 2 times. I've done all works in the constituency. People are satisfied with my work so I've been given this seat again. I hope this time too people will support me," he said as reported by news agency ANI.

The Tamil Nadu Assembly elections are scheduled to be held on April 6 and the results will be announced on May 2.

The ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) won power in the 2016 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections with 136 seats with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in second place winning 98 seats.

The AIADMK will be in alliance with the BJP and DMK with the Congress for the polls. The BJP failed to win a single seat in the previous elections while the Congress won eight.

Haasan’s MNM debuted in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls but did not win any of the contested seats. They did, however, have 3.72% of the vote share in the seats contested and showcased a good performance in urban areas like Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai.