What seemed to be a neck-to-neck fight, ended up in defeat for famed actor and founder of Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) Kamal Haasan in Tamil Nadu’s state assembly elections.
The actor who made his electoral debut with 2021 state assembly elections was expected by many to contest from Chennai but instead, he chose Coimbatore (South) as his constituency. He lost to BJP’s popular leader Vanathi Srinivasan.
Kamal Haasan in a Tweet thanked his supporters and said that he accepts the verdict of the people.
மக்களின் தீர்ப்பை ஏற்றுக்கொள்கிறோம். வாக்களித்த மக்களுக்கும், தேர்தல் களத்தில் தோள் கொடுத்த மநீம உறுப்பினர்களுக்கும், கூட்டணிக் கட்சியினருக்கும் மனமார்ந்த நன்றிகள். (1/2)
— Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) May 2, 2021
BJP leader and winner Vanathi Srinivasan also took to Twitter to thank her voters and supporters. Her Tweet read, “We have won! Thank you Kovai South for your support & blessings. I bow down to my voters, to my leaders, PM @narendramodi ji, HM @AmitShah ji, Nat’l President @JPNadda ji, GS(O) @blsanthosh ji & all @BJP4TamilNadu karyakarta for their hard work & dedication.”
We have won! Thank you Kovai South for your support & blessings. I bow down to my voters, to my leaders, PM @narendramodi ji, HM @AmitShah ji, Nat’l President @JPNadda ji, GS(O) @blsanthosh ji & all @BJP4TamilNadu karyakarta for their hard work & dedication.#KovaiSouth4Vanathi
— Vanathi Srinivasan (@VanathiBJP) May 2, 2021
Srinivasan received congratulatory messages from the top BJP honchos especially women leaders for her win.
.@VanathiBJP’s win is a proud moment for me. Being a witness to her years of struggle, compassion and dedication for her people, I congratulate our @BJPMahilaMorcha Chief on her victory with immense joy. Thankful to the people of Coimbatore South for their blessings.
— Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) May 2, 2021
Kamal Haasan vs Vanathi Srinivasan
While Vanathi Srinivasan has been a popular figure in Coimbatore mainly for maintaining a distance from identity based politics, her opponent Kamal Haasan based his entire campaign on anti-Hindu and anti-Hindi narrative.
From regarding the national language Hindi as a ‘little child in diapers’ in comparison with older languages of the country to dismissing the existence of the word ‘Hindu‘ before Mughals, Haasan found himself in many such controversies just before the state elections.
Vanathi Srinivasan, the 50-year old BJP leader and Chennai High Court lawyer, was in a closely-contested fight with Kamal Haasan. Finally, Srinivasan managed to win by 1540 votes. BJP has managed to secure 4 seats in the legislative assembly, in a first in Tamil Nadu.
DMK wins Tamil Nadu
As per the Election Commission data, the state of Tamil Nadu has been swept by MK Stalin-led DMK with a comfortable majority reducing AIADMK+ to around 70 seats.
