The statement uploaded on MNM's official website was taken down soon after party leaders denied merger with Congress.
Official Website of MNM, which was hacked, 'announcing' that the party would merge with the Congress. (Screenshot)
Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) on Friday, 27 January, denied reports of a merger with the Congress moments after a statement announcing such a move on 30 January was posted on its website.
The party claimed that the website had been hacked and the statement uploaded by miscreants and no such decision was on the horizon for the party’s president, Kamal Haasan.
The statement — which was subsequently removed — read:
“After various rounds of discussions and deliberations within Makkal Needhi Maiam, it has been decided that not just Shri Haasan, but all of us are with Rahul Gandhi in his attempts to save India, the South Asian Union of States. We have taken a crucial decision today, a day after we celebrated our Republic Day.
The general public and media are hereby informed that Makkal Needhi Maiam has decided to merge itself with Indian National Congress.
The formal merger will take place on 30th January 2023 – the day Mahatma Gandhi was killed by a Hindutva fanatic – in Delhi at Raj Ghat in presence of both Shri Kamal Haasan and Shri Rahul Gandhi.
On 30th January – we will bring Bapu back from the dead to fight Hindutva. That is the message.
We further hope that other parties will follow Makkal Needhi Maiam and merge themselves with Indian National Congress so that the party becomes strong and big enough to defeat Bhartiya Janata Party.
“If different ideologies could come together to form Janata Party to defeat Indira Gandhi, there is no reason why parties of almost similar ideologies can’t merge together to defeat Bhartiya Janata Party,” Rahul Gandhi said welcoming the decision of Makkal Needhi Maiam.
“Ever since Rahul Gandhi said that he had killed Rahul Gandhi, I wanted to do something similar. Today Makkal Needhi Maiam has killed Makkal Needhi Maiam, and we are all Congress,” Shri Kamal Haasan said.
(for immediate urgent release) (Madurai. 27 January 2023).
Claiming that the website has been hacked, Murali Abbas, the official spokesperson of MNM told South First: “The news is totally false and the website has been hacked.”
The official website of Makkal Needhi Maiam has been hacked by miscreants who thrive on stifling the voice of Democracy !
Unruffled, we will react appropriately and continue to stand tall !
— Makkal Needhi Maiam | மக்கள் நீதி மய்யம் (@maiamofficial) January 27, 2023
“At any cost, the party will not be merged with any other party. Our leader Kamal Haasan usually calls the party ‘his child’. Not even in his imagination such a thing will arise and he always wishes that MNM should exist even after his lifetime. So it’s a work of miscreants,” Murali Abbas said.
Later, the technical glitch was solved and the statement was completely removed from the website.
Earlier this week, MNM extended its support to the Congress candidate EVKS Elangovan who is contesting in the bypoll to the Erode East constituency.
Notably, earlier this month, Kamal Haasan joined Rahul Gandhi in his Bharat Jodo Yatra in New Delhi.
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