RK Nagar voters sold out to TTV Dhinakaran, AIADMK: Kamal Haasan

CHENNAI: After a gap of one month, actor Kamal Haasan resumed his attack on corruption by alleging that voters sold their votes for ₹20,000 each to T T V Dhinakaran in the R K Nagar byelection. The aspiring politican accused voters of causing the downfall of democracy by “begging a thief for money”.

Dhinakaran, the newly elected legislator from the constituency, however, denied the allegation. “Is Kamal trying to insult the people of R K Nagar?” he said.

Political observer Gnani Sankaran said the harsh tone of the actor in blaming voters was similar to that used by Periyar [E V Ramaswamy] who made such statements when an issue needed immediate attention. “If you feel Kamal’s tone is harsh and uncalled for, you should listen to some of Periyar’s speeches,” Gnani told TOI.

The 63-year actor, who has been working on the upcoming ‘Viswaroopam 2’ in the United States over the last month, charged the AIADMK with bribing the voters with ₹6,000 each, but steered clear of criticising the DMK.

In his column in the Thursday issue of a

Tamil

magazine that hit the stands on Thursday, Kamal said, “The

RK Nagar byelection

, where voters sold their vote for money, is a blot on Indian democracy. This is not corruption; this is the downfall of democracy. Corruption is something you try to hide. In contrast, bribing of voters was carried out openly. It is very sad to note that the people contributed to this downfall.”

Chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, the actor went on to say, and his cabinet colleagues fixed a price for each vote. “When the independent candidate promised ₹20,000, the people decided that their saviour had arrived. By voting for him, the voter has dug himself his own grave.”

The star of such blockbusters as ‘Sakalakala Vallavan’ said even scholars who knew more about politics than him were mighty impressed by Dhinakaran’s victory. “The media sings praise of the independent candidate when he says he is not shaken by the raids and the imprisonment as he is already been through much worse. Political pundits are in awe of his deceitful act of handing voters ₹20 as a token, instead of paying them ₹20,000 upfront.”

The administration in Tamil Nadu is no different from the East India Company which plundered the country, Kamal said, adding, “When I say such things, they tell me I am not suited to politics.” Kamal said he was being told that he is unable to keep up with the pace of politics and that he lacked understanding about political strategy.

Preparing the ground for a career in politics, Kamal said he was done with expressing anger over Twitter. “The time has come for everyone to enter politics in interest of a better tomorrow,” he said.