Kamal gets battery torch symbol for polls

CHENNAI: Makkal Needhi Maiam has been allotted the ‘battery torch’ symbol by the Election Commission for the coming assembly elections, party chief Kamal Haasan said here on Friday. “We have been allotted torchlight symbol for all the 234 assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu,” he said in a video message on Twitter. MNM contested on the symbol of torchlight in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

CHENNAI: Makkal Needhi Maiam president Kamal Haasan on Friday announced that his party has got back the “battery torch” symbol for the ensuing Assembly polls.

“I am pleased to announce that the battery torch symbol has been re-allocated to the Makkal Needhi Maiam for all the 234 Assembly seats in Tamil Nadu,” Kamal said in a video posted on his Twitter page.

He made this announcement flanked by party vice president Dr R Mahendran, former IAS officers Santhosh Babu and Rangarajan.

Noting that it happened on the birthday anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr who struggled to shine in the lives of the oppressed, Kamal thanked the Election Commission of India and those supported it. “Let the light spread,” he tweeted.

MNM was allotted the ‘battery torch’ symbol for the Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in 2019. The party polled over 16 lakh votes accounting for 3.78 per cent of the total votes polled in the state. Even as the actor-politician commenced his “Reimagining Tamil Nadu” campaign, the EC on December 14 notified that the battery torch symbol allotting to MGR Makkal Katchi much to the disappointment of MNM.

MNM quickly petitioned the EC seeking re-allotment of the ‘battery torch’ symbol while moving the Madras High Court challenging the order. However, the MGR Makkal Katchi chief Viswanathan wrote to the EC seeking allotment of any other symbol which will remind the public about the late chief minister MG Ramachandran than ‘battery torch’ symbol.

“In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the EC had allotted the battery torch symbol to another party. The same party has been allotted battery torch symbol in Puducherry. Also, there are possibilities for the party to win in Puducherry with the help of MGR’s popularity,” Viswanathan said, urging the EC to allot a different symbol to MGR Makkal Katchi that will remind the public of MGR.

MNM quickly petitioned the EC seeking re-allotment of the ‘battery torch’ symbol while moving the Madras High Court challenging the order. However, the MGR Makkal Katchi chief Viswanathan wrote to the EC seeking allotment of any other symbol which will remind the public about MGR