Renowned actor and Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) founder Kamal Haasan was sworn in as a Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament on Friday, taking his oath in Tamil, receiving warm applause from fellow lawmakers.
The 69-year-old actor-turned-politician expressed pride over this significant step in his political journey.
“I am very proud and honoured,” Kamal Haasan told reporters outside Parliament.
This marks his first-ever role in the national legislature, achieved with the support of the DMK-led alliance, which had promised him a Rajya Sabha seat in exchange for MNM’s backing during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Haasan filed his nomination on June 6 at the Tamil Nadu Secretariat in the presence of Chief Minister MK Stalin, Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin, and senior leaders from the Congress, VCK, and MDMK.
With a comfortable majority of 158 MLAs in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, the DMK-led bloc secured four of the six Rajya Sabha seats from the state, including Haasan’s.
Haasan and five others—Poet Salma (DMK), SR Sivalingam (DMK), P Wilson (DMK, re-elected), IS Inbadurai (AIADMK), and Dhanapal (AIADMK)—were elected unopposed on June 12, receiving their certificates from Returning Officer Subramani.
Though MNM did not contest the 2024 general elections, its support to the alliance reinforced Kamal Haasan’s political relevance. In the 2021 Assembly elections, MNM secured a 2.62% vote share.
With this Rajya Sabha entry, Kamal Haasan now begins a new chapter as a national legislator, blending cinema, activism, and policy-making on a broader stage.
