He used Madurai in southern Tamil Nadu as the launchpad for his political journey, keeping in with a long tradition of actors/film personalities in the state moving over from the celluloid world to politics.
On Tuesday, he commenced his formal political journey visiting the house of former President of India, late A P J Abdul Kalam's, in Rameswaram, a southern district in Tamil Nadu.
However, the fellow political parties in the State did not welcome the new entrant well. A day before the launch, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader M K Stalin said, "Glamorous, odourless paper flowers bloom and wither fast."
Tamilisai Soundararajan, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, remarked that Haasan has started the party as a competition and people who jump suddenly into politics cannot be a leader. Haasan has been known for his acquaintance with the left parties and Dravidian ideology.
Haasan's announcement comes at a time when Rajinikanth has also announced his plans to enter politics, which he calls as "spiritual politics". He said his party would contest in the coming legislative Assembly elections, and take a call on whether to participate in the Lok Sabha elections at the right time. His political machinery had started its operations by forming regional party wings under his fans’ association Rajini Makkal Mandram.
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