Tamil Nadu Government Like A 'Criminal Conglomerate': Kamal Haasan

Chennai: Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami may have won the vote of confidence in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, but Kamal Haasan, one of the biggest stars of the South, said it's not an outcome he accepts. "The emotion(s) on streets denote something else," he told NDTV in an exclusive interview.

He said AIADMK chief VK Sasikala's family, which anointed Mr Palaniswami as Chief Minister after she was convicted by the Supreme Court in a corruption case, is "a criminal conglomerate".

"What I am saying, it is the truth and it was reiterated by (the) Court. Even the late Chief Minister (Jayalalithaa) has been accused," Mr Haasan said.

"We need our assembly floor clean. Give elections to people and they will speak their mind," Mr Haasan said.

Tamil Nadu underwent elections in May last year, voting Ms Jayalalithaa to power for a second consecutive term.

When asked, Mr Haasan also said he considers himself unfit for politics. "I am very angry and you don't need angry politicians. You need politicians with great balance. Right now I am angry and so are the people," he said.

The trust vote in the Tamil Nadu assembly was held at around 3:15 pm yesterday after multiple adjournments and disruption as DMK lawmakers broke chairs and heckled speaker P Dhanapal, who ordered their immediate eviction. Without the participation of 88 DMK legislators and eight Congress lawmakers, who walked out in protest, Chief Minister E Palaniswami easily defeated rival O Panneerselvam by 122 votes to the latter's 11.

While the AIADMK's official Twitter handle celebrated with the hashtag "TNSaved", Mr Haasan's industry colleagues and actors Arvind Swamy and Siddharth expressed their displeasure.

"Give #Sasikala a laptop in jail. Save transport cost (our money) for #EKS and his gang for 4 years. Time to put more salt in our food," said actor Siddharth, insinuating that Mr Palaniswami would be "remote-controlled" by AIADMK chief VK Sasikala.