Kamal further alleged that Mahendran did not allow those working with ‘true intentions’ for the party to grow within its structure.
The resignation of Makkal Needhi Maiam Vice President R Mahendran, after a scathing letter against party chief Kamal Haasan being allegedly manipulated by ‘outside forces’ and lack of democracy within the party has been met with a strong response. The actor turned politician himself wrote a note countering Mahendran, going as far as calling him a ‘betrayer’.
MNM suffered a rout in the recently-concluded Tamil Nadu Assembly elections with Kamal Haasan himself losing the poll in Coimbatore. In his resignation letter from the party post and primary membership, Mahendran said that from June 2020 onwards, the multi-faceted MNM was being converted into a fan club by Sankhya Solutions (political campaign consultants). He recalled the suggestion made to Kamal Haasan to contest in Chennai or in two seats, Coimbatore (South) and in Chennai, but he allegedly ignored it.
According to him, there was a decline in Kamal Haasan’s tenacity of purpose “which is buried under a style of operation that reeks of non-democratic manner of running a political party”.
Responding to this, Kamal Haasan said, “We worked to our best in the war. We witnessed the fact that we faced not just opponents from the other side but also betrayers from our side. ‘Remove the betrayers’ resonated the unanimous voice of the party. Dr. Mahendran was on top of that list. He claims that there is no democracy in the party. He is the biggest example for the fact that democracy sometimes fails. He has tried to take the faces of the people who gave him identity.”
Kamal further alleged that Mahendran did not allow those working with ‘true intentions’ for the party to grow within its structure.
“He tries to cover up his lack of honesty, acumen and his failures by blaming it on others and tries to earn sympathy. He tried to pre-empt his removal by resigning. Just like you, I am happy about the fact that a weed removed itself. It will be an ascendancy for our party henceforth,” said Kamal.
He further added that all aspects of his life were transparent and maintained that MNM will not pay heed to ‘those cowards who desert us at the first sight of failure’.
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Source: The News Minute