CHENNAI: Makkal Needhi Maiam chief Kamal Haasan called for a ‘purity test’ of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
“To the election commission, we request each vote should get receipts. I am not saying we should not trust machines because I will always be first in line to welcome technology. We shouldn’t blame the EVM. If an accident occurs, the reason is not the car but the driver. So we have to decide on the EVMs. People have to say how it should be. Even their god Rama conducted Agnipariksha, right? So we will test the purity of these EVM machines. I am not making fun of anyone. Many will say I am anti-Brahmin. I am speaking of anti-Brahmanism,” Kamal Haasan said while addressing party members in Chennai.
Responding to criticisms over his party joining hands with the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Haasan said that 2026 is important for the party, hinting at the next state assembly elections.
He also asked his supporters to understand the present alliance as a ‘strategy rather than a sacrifice’.
“2026 is Tamil Nadu ground. The present is for India. You all have to understand that this is a strategy rather than a sacrifice. The reason is I am going to campaign for the candidates in areas where they were all scared so I could get that seat,” Kamal Haasan said.
“This is a golden opportunity for all to show who we are. You all are taking training at this stage. There is no trick and all. They also know this. We are making sacrifices now and our sacrifices and honesty are supporting us. We don’t know how many will be with us tomorrow but we will be the same and speak the same words. Honesty is required to say this on an open stage,” he added.
Haasan also chaired a meeting of the party office bearers in Chennai regarding campaigning for INDIA bloc candidates. MNM also announced coordinators for the campaign during the meeting.
According to party sources, Haasan will start campaigning for the general elections in Erode on March 29.
As per the schedule, the MNM chief will be campaigning in Salem on March 30, Trichy on April 2, Chidambaram on April 3, Sriperumbadhur on April 6, Chennai on April 7, Madurai on April 10, Thoothukudi on April 11, Tirupur on April 14, Coimbatore on April 15 and Pollachi on April 16.
The voting for all 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu will be held in the first phase on April 19.
During polling for the 2019 general elections, the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance, comprising the Congress, VCK, MDMK, CPI, CPI(M), IUML, MMK, KMDK, TVK, and AIFB, registered a landslide victory, winning 38 of the 39 seats.
In 2019, the DMK won 23 Lok Sabha seats, hogging 33.2 per cent of the total votes polled, while the Congress bagged 8 seats, with its vote share at 12.9 per cent. The CPI, too, won two seats in the state.
The elections for 543 Lok Sabha seats across the country will be held in seven phases, starting April 19. (ANI)
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