Makkal Needhi Maiam party functionaries have been instructed to participate in gram sabha meetings on October 2 in at least 1,500 villages across Tamil Nadu and connect the village leaders and youngsters to party leadership via videoconferencing. MNM founder Kamal Haasan is expected to speak to the people.
Speaking to The Hindu, MNM vice-president R. Mahendran said the party, which garnered sizeable share of votes from urban seats in the Lok Sabha elections, has been working to build a base in rural Tamil Nadu in the last six months.
“There is no doubt that the majority of our population still lives in villages and we have asked four party functionaries to attend each of the 1,500 gram sabha meetings. These party functionaries will connect village elders and youngsters to party leadership,” he said. Asked if these efforts are being taken to set right the perception that MNM is largely an urban phenomenon, he said, “I disagree that we are more popular only in the urban pockets. This perception is based on the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in which we campaigned only for 17 days and were allotted a symbol just 21 days before.”
“In the last six months, we have been working very hard and are proud to say that we have party representatives in most villages. We intend to kick off our campaign for the State Assembly elections on October 2,” he said.