Storm in Kamal’s MNM: Two More Senior Functionaries Quit Party

On Thursday, 20 May, actor turned politician Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) faced yet another blow, with two more senior functionaries of the party quitting from their posts.While entrepreneur and party general secretary C K Kumaravel resigned from the party on Thursday, another general secretary M Muruganandam had announced his resignation, just a day ago on Wednesday, 19 May.Although Kumaravel did not make any fresh charges against Kamal, he said that there was some truth in the charges levelled against the party leadership by those who had quit earlier.‘Party Took Wrong Decisions’“Wrong decisions and the desire to just focus on winning one Assembly seat let the party down in the Assembly election. Instead of creating history and sitting in the opposition with a sizeable presence, we have become a part of history,” Kumaravel said in an open letter to the party chief Kamal Haasan.In a tweet, M Muruganandam, who had contested from Thiruverumbur constituency in the recently held Assembly elections, said that he was quitting MNM as there was “no democracy prevailing in the party.”Muruganandam, a senior-level functionary of MNM is the second after former vice president Dr R Mahendran to allege lack of democracy in the party.‘No Democracy Prevailing’In a tweet, Muruganandam said he had joined the party to do public work in an “honest and independent manner”“But with no conductive situation for that, today I'm quitting from all party positions as well as the primary membership,” he added.In his resignation letter, which is uploaded on his Twitter handle, Muruganandam alleged that in the past few days there was “no democracy” in the organisation.“With no democracy prevailing in the party, I have decided it is not appropriate to continue in it anymore.”He also alleged that MNM’s alliance with “weak parties” for the April 6 elections has dented its image. The party had contested the 2021 Assembly election in alliance with TR Paarivendhar’s Indiya Jananayaga Katchi (IJK) and R Sarathkumar led All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi (AISMK).Muruganandam also blamed some persons for “misleading” Kamal and interfering with party affairs. He alleged that “unilateralism” and “autocracy” had crept into the party.‘Most Seats Given to Alliance Partners’“Party members were shocked when most of the seats were given to alliance partners without consulting anyone. The clarification from Kamal Hassan that the party did not have enough candidates to contest in all the constituencies was painful. Many party workers who had worked day and night for the party were denied an opportunity.”M MuruganandamFollowing its election rout, MNM has been witnessing a slew of resignations. Just a few days ago, two popular faces of the party – Dr Santosh Babu, former general secretary and Padmapriya, former state secretary of the party had quit the party citing “personal reasons.”Prior to that, the party’s former vice president Mahendran tendered his resignation saying, “There is no democracy in the party”. His announcement came soon after MNM’s poor performance in the elections, where the party could not win even a single seat.Along with Mahendran, several other key leaders including V Ponraj, former president APJ Abdul Kalam’s scientific advisor, party general secretaries AG Mourya, Umadevi, election strategist Suresh Iyer, party founding member Kameela Nazer had also resigned.

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Storm in Kamal’s MNM: Two More Senior Functionaries Quit Party

Kamal Haasan’s party has been witnessing a slew of resignations following its rout in the 2021 Assembly elections.

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Topics: Kamal Haasan tamilnadu politics MNM