Actor Kamal Haasan to launch party tomorrow, seeks top leaders' wishes

Chennai: Tamil Nadu waits with baited breath the launch of a new party led by actor-turned politician Kamal Haasan on Wednesday.

As per the itinerary released, the actor will unveil his party flag, announce the party name and will hoist the party flag in Madurai. 

The superstar, who is all set to launch his political innings, expressed confidence that he would succeed with his Dravidian brand of politics.

In January, he had batted for unity among Southern states under the "Dravidian" tag to leverage ties with the Centre.  

Earlier on Monday, Haasan, who had been meeting top political leaders and friends to seek their wishes before he begins his state-wide tour from APJ Abdul Kalam's residence in Rameswaram, met his “senior” and DMDK chief Vijayakanth.

Also Read: Kamal Haasan meets ‘senior’ Vijayakanth

On Sunday, Haasan had also met DMK president M Karunanidhi and superstar Rajinikanth. He said that he was calling on those "whom he liked" before the formal launch of his party.

Emerging from the brief meeting with Karunanidhi, Haasan told reporters he called on the former chief minister to get his blessings and inform him about his political journey.

Asked about having a tie-up with DMK, the actor said it was for that party to take a call after it understood his ideology. 

"DMK's ideology is known. If my ideology suits them, they can think about it."

Hassan personally invited Rajinikanth on Sunday for the launch of his political journey, which however, was politely turned down by Rajinikanth.

"Our styles are different," Rajinikanth had said.

Also Read: Rajinikanth declines Kamal Haasan’s invite for Tamil Nadu tour launch

Rajinikanth said he prayed for "divine blessings" to be bestowed on his friend Haasan and wished him success in his political endeavours.

Haasan had earlier in February referred to the stark differences between him and Rajinikanth - on religion and on "saffron", which was interpreted as Rajinikanth's inclination towards the BJP.

“There is a hue of saffron in Rajini's politics. If that doesn't change then I don't see an alliance with him. We are good friends but politics is different,” He had said. 

Kamal Haasan has so far met chief ministers of Kerala and Delhi — Pinarayi Vijayan and Arvind Kejriwal — besides former chief election commissioner TN Seshan and veteran state CPI leader R Nallakannu.

Both Haasan and Rajinikanth, who command a huge fan following, have announced they will enter politics.

(With agency inputs)