Just months ahead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections 2021, the general secretary of actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan’s party Makkal Needhi Maiam, has switched over to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Makkal Needhi Maiam general secretary A Arunachalam joined the BJP in the presence of Union Minister and BJP leader Prakash Javadekar in Chennai on December 25.
Chennai: Makkal Needhi Maiam leader A. Arunachalam joins Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of Union Minister and BJP leader Prakash Javadekar pic.twitter.com/wUh7Jfr6zC— ANI (@ANI) December 25, 2020
Arunachalam had worked closely with Kamal Haasan even before the People's Justice Center was started in 2018 and the sudden move comes as a major setback as the party is bracing itself to fight the upcoming TN assembly elections.
Addressing the media, Arunachalam said he decided to join the saffron party as the MNM did not agree with his views on the three agricultural reforms recently introduced by the Centre. The former MNM general secretary said he had requested Kamal Haasan’s party not to oppose the three agri reforms just because the BJP had introduced it. He had highlighted that the three laws would benefit the farmers, yet MNM had decided against supporting it.
With agency inputs
