After Kamal Haasan-led Makkal Needhi Maiam's (MNM) poor performance in the Tamil Nadu assembly elections, party's vice-president R. Mahendran announced his decision to step down from the post and resign from the party.
Mahendran, a doctor from Pollachi, has been playing a major role in the functioning of the party.
In his letter to the party cadre, Mahendran said the events of last one-and-a-half years, and during the assembly polls and thereafter warrant his resignation from the post. He said he arrived at the decision to resign after much deliberation.
Mahendran said despite the poor performance of the party and its president—Kamal Haasan lost to BJP's Vanathi Srinivasan in Coimbatore South—in the assembly polls, he sees no hope for any change in the attitude of the party or its president in the functioning.
Noting that "leader I knew would always give preference to the ideals of the party and stand shoulder to shoulder with party cadre," Mahendran said he wishes that the party chief "regains and retains" the leadership qualities he once displayed. Admitting that it was Haasan who inspired him to enter politics, he said he will "strive to work to the best of my abilities in politics."
In his resignation letter to Haasan, he said he was unhappy with the way in which the elections were handled and was disappointed when he was not given the chance to handle the election campaign.
He said he decided to resign as he lost all hope for "any semblance of change in how the party is being run."
