Prominent psephologist and founder of Swaraj India party, Yogendra Yadav said that Swaraj India, the party he cofounded with others such as Prashant Bhushan, will lend its support to Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Taking to Facebook, Yadav wrote that Swaraj India will support the party for 40 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, as well as all assembly seats that are scheduled for by-elections.
Yadav added that he, along with Tamil Nadu state unit President of Swaraj India K Balakrishnan and National Vice Presidents Christina Samy and Purushottam, will join Maiam’s campaign at Tirupur on April 5.
The party’s decision comes days after Haasan invited Yogendra Yadav to campaign for his party in Coimbatore and Pollachi Lok Sabha constituencies in Tamil Nadu, which goes to the polls on Friday.
Yadav, a former AAP member, had met with Kamal Haasan in Chennai, and urged him to take a lead in Tamil Nadu politics.
Heaping praise on the national award winning actor, Yadav said that leaders like Kamal Haasan have a larger responsibility in national politics as well.
Haasan had condemned the Tamil Nadu government’s action to arrest Yogendra Yadav in September last year while on his way to meet the farmers protesting against a proposed eight-lane Salem-Chennai expressway.
Last week, Haasan had announced that he won’t contest upcoming Lok Sabha election and Tamil Nadu Assembly bypolls.
“I will neither contest upcoming Lok Sabha polls nor assembly bypolls to 18 constituencies in Tamil Nadu. I have lot of work to do. I will work towards the success of my candidates,” he had said at a massive public meeting in Coimbatore.
Makkal Needhi Maiam which translates to “Centre for People’s Justice” in English, was launched on February 21, 2018, from Haasan’s hometown Rameswaram.
Swaraj India is the political front of the socio-political organisation Swaraj Abhiyan, formed by Yadav and anti-corruption activist Prashant Bhushan in 2015 following their split from Aam Aadmi Party.
The organisation claims to transform ideology into reality and to achieve Swaraj in all aspects of life – political, economical, social and cultural.