The Rajya Sabha witnessed a compelling entry from Kamal Haasan, Tamil Nadu’s newest MP and film luminary, who on February 4 dissected democracy’s vulnerabilities. His maiden intervention on the President’s address motion spotlighted voter rights, linguistic cultures, and India’s federal ethos.
Hailing from humble Paramakudi beginnings via cinema’s transformative power, Haasan positioned the Upper House as diverse India’s echo chamber. Structuring his talk on emotional, conceptual, and legal tiers, he zeroed on electoral roll mayhem.
‘Technical flubs and spelling snafus are deleting voters en masse—creating living dead,’ he charged, pinpointing Bihar’s crisis, Bengal’s suits, and Tamil Nadu risks. Insisting votes as inviolable, he warned against prioritizing systems over citizens, especially with fleeting governments and Gen Z scrutiny.
Seeking urgent action sans personal barbs, Haasan bridged personal epiphanies to federal shortfalls against constitutional vows. Evoking Annadurai’s 1969 mentorship on culture and rights, he confessed shaking from memory’s gravity.
Drawing sustenance from Gandhi, Periyar, Annadurai for dispassionate debate, he thanked Stalin and partners for this platform. Ending in Tamil, Haasan’s speech marked a stellar pivot from reels to real policy battles.