MNM to face LS polls by itself: Kamal Haasan
Coimbatore, Feb 7 : Actor-politician Kamal Haasan Thursday said his Makkal Needhi Maiam would contest all the 39 seats in Tamil Nadu on its own in the coming Lok Sabha polls, indicating a shift in its policy to forge alliances.
"we are trying to serve good for the people with clean hands. We are trying to keep our hands clean by not allying with any of the Dravidian parties," the 64-year-old Haasan told reporters here.
Asked whether his party would contest all the 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu and one in neighbouring Puducherry, he said, "yes, we have taken such a decision".
Haasan had earlier announced that his party would contest the Lok Sabha polls in alliance with like-minded parties.
To a query on his two-day meeting with the district assembly constituency and area in-charges in Pollachi near Coimbatore, he said discussions centred around the areas that need to be focused ahead of the polls.
Amid fanfare, Kamal Haasan had in February last year launched his political party.
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Right to vote under threat, must be made fundamental right: Cong's Jairam Ramesh
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Jairam Ramesh alleged on Thursday that the right to vote is under threat and the time has come when it should be made a fundamental right for citizens.
Speaking with reporters, Ramesh lashed out at Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, saying the Election Commission (EC) has never been as compromised as it has been under him.
"The rot started under his predecessor. This man is a player and not a neutral observer," the Congress leader said, slamming Kumar.
Kumar is completely compromised and has become a player in elections, he alleged.
"Home Minister Amit Shah had talked about three Ds -- detect, delete and deport. So we want to know how many non-Indian citizens have been detected, how many have been deleted and how many have been deported," Ramesh said, adding that the right to vote is now under threat.
On opposition parties submitting a fresh notice in the Rajya Sabha, seeking to move a motion for the CEC's removal, the Congress leader said they will continue to make efforts for Kumar's removal as he is "compromised".
Ramesh also batted for the right to vote to be recognised as a fundamental right.
"I believe that the time has come that the right to vote should be made a fundamental right. It is a statutory right, it is not a fundamental right. Fundamental rights are justiciable," he said.
The former Union minister said this was discussed in the Constituent Assembly, but it was eventually decided that it should be made part of the Constitution.
B R Ambedkar and Jagjivan Ram had warned that in the future, governments might try to disenfranchise voters, he added.
"Once and for all, include the right to vote as a fundamental right for Indian citizens," Ramesh asserted.
