Ahead of the Tamil Nadu and Puducherry elections scheduled to be held in May, actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) will begin accepting online applications from party members as it selects candidates for the elections.

In an official announcement made on Monday, the party officials said that applications will open from Sunday, February 21, and potential candidates must pay Rs 25,000 to be considered. They also added that non-party members could also apply or be nominated.

The party’s permanent president Kamal Haasan is set to decide on electoral strategies for the forthcoming elections which include electoral alliance and selection of candidates.

Last month, Kamal Haasan said his party had been allotted the ‘battery torch’ symbol, the same symbol the party had used when it contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the actor’s electoral debut and picked up a vote share of 3.77 percent.

“We have been allotted torchlight symbol for all the 234 assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu,” Kamal Haasan said in a video message posted on his Twitter handle.

Also read: Kamal Haasan to Be the ‘Permanent’ President of Makkal Needhi Maiam, Resolves Party

Before the actor was struck with a leg bone infection, he had been actively campaigning for the elections. Early last month he drew large crowds to a rally in Vellore, where he promised to fight against corruption and spoke good governance, employment, and a clean environment.

The actor-politician is working towards developing Tamil Nadu into a state where people might not need to visit government offices at all.

The Kamal Haasan-led Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) on Thursday authorised its chief to decide on the party’s electoral strategy for the coming Assembly polls and announced he will be its “permanent president.”

A number of other resolutions were also adopted in the meeting, including opposing any efforts by the central BJP government to “impose Hindi and Sanskrit” on Tamil people. The MNM said it will resist any such move.