Kamal Haasan’s Party Name Makkal Needhi Maiam Decoded

Jayadev

Madurai: For starters, Tamil actor Kamal Haasan named his party Makkal Needhi Maiam at a public meeting in Madurai yesterday. Before we tell you what exactly it means, let’s know a few details on when this all started.

Promising fair and corrupt free governance, yet another political party was launched by Tamil star Kamal Haasan here yesterday night. The actor who has created a separate identity for himself in the tinsel town is looking to repeat the same magic in the world of politics too. The star made a good beginning but will he be able to continue the momentum and churn out a blockbuster, only time can tell.

Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan on Wednesday launched his party, Makkal Needhi Maiam taking a plunge into the already crowded Tamil Nadu politics. Even actor Rajinikanth announced his plan to launch a political outfit sometime back.

Kamal Haasan hoisted his party flag at the Madurai venue where he addressed a public rally in the presence of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and unveiled his party name. Interestingly Telangana IT minister KT Rama Rao too was invited to be a part of the event which the latter gave a miss. However, the Telangana minister did send his apologies via Twitter.

To this, Kamal was quick to reply thus…

What Does Makkal Needhi Maiam Mean?

The name of Kamal’s political outfit is 'Makkal Needhi Maiam', which translates to People's Justice Centre.

Kamal’s Party Flag Explained

The party's white flag has a star on the centre with three arms in white and three in red holding each other around it. Haasan explained the six arms in the flag denote the six southern states.

“People ask me what is this ‘Maiam?’, and if I am left or right? That is why I kept the name ‘Maiam’, which means centre. Six hands in my party symbol represent six states, star in the middle represents people,” said Kamal Haasan at the party launch.

“People ask about my ideology, here it is—good quality education must reach all, caste and religious games played on us must be stopped. Corruption has to be eradicated,” he added.

“I’m not your leader, I’m your tool...this gathering is full of leaders,” he said moments before announcing the party’s name that roughly translates to “Centre for People’s Justice”. The party flag was unveiled just before Haasan announced the name of his party with a brief pause heightening the dramatic effect as the huge crowd roared in approval.

The flag in white background has six hands joining together with shades of red over three hands and rest with white along with a star in between surrounded by a star like background in black.

Colours black and white have political significance in Tamil Nadu which forms part of the flags of the two big parties of the state—AIADMK and DMK—and the shades are also seen as a pointer to the Dravidian ideology.

The actor-turned-politician also announced party office-bearers for each districts. "This political party is meant for you. I'm only a tool. You all are the leaders," Haasan told the crowd.

"I'm not a leader who will advice you. I'm only a worker ready for your advice," he added. In each districts of Tamil Nadu similar meetings will be held, he added.

Kejriwal who attended the launch, said, "Kamal offers an honest political alternative. Next time, don't vote for a corrupt party. Now you can vote for an honest party. Vote for Kamal Hassan." Drawing parallel to his Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) in Delhi, he said, "In one year, people of Delhi rejected both BJP and Congress and gave us 67 seats. There is so much of energy and hope in the people of Tamil Nadu that I feel that people of this state will break the record of people of Delhi."

Before heading to Madurai for the public rally to announce his political party name and plans, Kamal Haasan went to Rameswaram and briefly interacted with late president AbdulKalam’s nonagenarian brother Mohammed Muthumeeran Lebbai Maraikkayar. Kalam’s family presented a memento carrying an image of the former president to Haasan.

After Kalam house visit, Kamal Haasan interacted with members of the fishermen community in Rameswaram. Haasan said he had learnt about their problems through media reports but wanted a first-hand account of things. “Henceforth, it will happen so,” he said hinting at more such interactions. Previous governments made promises to fishermen but did not live up to them and “divert” the issue when confronted, he charged.