Kamal Haasan to undertake Tamil Nadu tour from Feb 21, announce name of political party

Veteran Tamil actor Kamal Haasan would commence his political journey from his hometown Ramanathapuram on February 21.

Chennai: Ending weeks of uncertainty over his foray into the murky world of politics, veteran actor Kamal Haasan has announced that he would commence his political journey from his hometown Ramanathapuram on February 21.

On the same day, the actor will also reveal the name of his party, ANI reported.

#TamilNadu Actor Kamal Hassan to begin a state-wide tour on Feburary 21 from his home town Ramanathapuram. He will also announce the name of his political party and its guiding principles at the commencement of the tour. (File Pic) pic.twitter.com/IHReSp3EGG

— ANI (@ANI) January 17, 2018

The southern superstar made the announcement in a statement issued late on Tuesday, saying his purpose in life is to "challenge the status quo that has been plaguing the politics of Tamil Nadu for some time now".

The Tamil superstar will also embark on a state-wide of Tamil Nadu from the same day.  

"I intend to embark on a journey across the state from February 21, 2018, to truly understand as to what the needs of my people are, what is afflicting them, what their aspirations are?.'' he said.

"Further, this momentous journey of meeting people across Tamil Nadu is neither an act of rebellion nor is it a gathering for glamour. Simply put, this is a journey of discovery and learning and an opportunity for me to truly understand my people," Haasan, 63, said.

This is being planned and executed in phases and over a period of time,'' he added.

"I believe it will be truly appropriate if my political journey commences from the place of my birth and hometown Ramanathapuram. Following this, I intend on meeting and spending time with the people from the districts of Madurai, Dindigul and Sivagangai.''

"In addition, at the commencement of the journey, I intend to announce the name of my political party along with the guiding principles we intend to live by," Haasan informed

With his political foray, the actor said that he intends to "question mediocrity and raise the bar on governance and welfare for the people of Tamil Nadu".

"The journey is intended towards that goal. I begin this journey with your support. Join hands with me to empower our country and state," said the acclaimed actor, who feels the love he has for people of the state needs to be "manifested in action and deed".

The veteran actor had in September last year returned the donations which he had received from his fans for his soon-to-be-launched political party.

The veteran Tamil superstar made his intentions clear through a column in a weekly Tamil news magazine.

"It'll be illegal to keep the money without any infrastructure," he had written in the weekly column.

The 57-year-old actor had earlier said that his fan clubs had helped him in raising nearly Rs 30 crores to assist the needy.

However, he also said that there should be no ambiguity over his plans to enter politics.

Though the actor maintained that he has ''not fixed a date or name for the new political venture''.

"The party has to be first named and formed," he wrote in the column.

"This doesn't mean I am backtracking, it doesn't mean I won't accept money," he added.

He had also landed in a controversy for making a controversial statement regarding 'Hindu terrorism'.

However, the actor later sought to assuage those offended by his comments.

In an earlier column, the veteran actor had spoken of "Hindu terror" and said that there was a new trend among right-wing groups to resort to violence instead of debate to make their arguments.

The veteran actor later apologised for his remarks and said that he was misquoted.

"I didn't mean that. I come from a Hindu family," he had said.

In the article, Haasan had asked the Hindus to act like 'older brothers'.

"Hindus are in a majority, (so) they have the responsibility of an elder brother. When Hindus say we are big, their hearts too ought to be big. They should embrace others and correct them if they do wrong," he wrote.

Later, Kamal Haasan, on his birthday, said that he will launch an app which would allow him to collect feedback on what voters want and enable whistleblowers to post crucial information.

He had first disclosed his intent to turn politician in July.

(With Agency inputs)