Chennai, July 20: Actor Kamal Haasan today announced that he had already entered politics and launched a movement against "corruption" of Tamil Nadu ministers, bringing alive the moribund political scenario in the state and sending social media into a tizzy.

Kamal has also accepted with alacrity the Opposition DMK's invitation to attend the platinum jubilee celebrations of the party's mouthpiece, Murasoli. DMK acting president M.K. Stalin has openly supported the actor's observations against Tamil Nadu ministers.

A day after hinting on Twitter that he could join politics soon, Kamal today said in a long letter to his fans and friends that he had been in politics since the day he opposed the "imposition" of Hindi on Tamil Nadu.

Referring to the challenge by several ministers to come out with specific charges of corruption, Kamal appealed to his fans and friends to send in their grievances and complaints to the ministers.

"I am sure there would be lakhs of complaints of graft against the ministers," he wrote.

Kamal accused a section of ministers of collecting money from film producers by promising them exemption from the entertainment tax. "Only a few like me have opposed such a practice while most of my fraternity are in collusion with the ministers," he wrote.

"It is really rib-tickling to note that those who have been indulging in the quagmire of graft (are) threatening me for tax evasion," Kamal said.

The immediate trigger behind Kamal's letter appeared to be Tamil Nadu chief minister and AIADMK leader E.K. Palaniswami's throwing down the gauntlet to him yesterday.

Ending 10 days of silence as Kamal and the state's ministers traded charges, Palaniswami said the actor knew "nothing of politics".

Speaking to the media at the Jayalalithaa memorial on Marina Beach in Chennai, Palaniswami said: "Let him enter politics and then we will give him a fitting response."

Finance minister D. Jayakumar, who has been spearheading the attack on Kamal from the beginning, challenged the actor to level "specific" charges.

"I am in charge of the directorate of vigilance and anti-corruption. Let him come to me with specific allegations of corruption and I will initiate immediate action. There is absolutely no sense in levelling charges without any specific evidence," Jayakumar said.

The political scenario in Tamil Nadu had been placid but went into turmoil after the death of four-time chief minister Jayalalithaa last December.

The AIADMK split into two groups with Jayalalithaa loyalist O. Panneerselvam and long-time associate of the chief minister V.K. Sasikala leading two factions. OPS led a rebellion after he was deposed as chief minister but Sasikala, now in jail in connection with an assets case, managed to install Palaniswamy as chief minister.

Since that churning, nothing noteworthy had happened in the state's politics until Kamal upped the ante against the ministers.

Kamal, whose relations with Jayalalithaa had been less than cordial, criticised the Tamil Nadu government for its "failure" to tackle the Chennai floods in 2015 and wanted to know how the funds collected for relief and rehabilitation were spent.

Political observers believe Kamal's relations with Jayalalithaa soured further after the then chief minister did not take action when the actor's films Virumaandi and Vishwaroopam ran into protests.

While Kamal had been critical of the AIADMK government on a number of occasions, he made his displeasure amply clear when Sasikala was elected the legislature party leader days before she was convicted by the Supreme Court. He had said that the election had "hurt" him.

With the actor stepping up the heat, parties in the state have grouped themselves under pro and anti-Kamal camps.

AIADMK ministers said he was acting at the behest of the DMK and was its trumpet.

DMK leader Stalin, the son of party patriarch M. Karunanidhi, AIADMK Puratchi Thalaivi Amma faction chief Panneerselvam, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president S. Thirunavukkarasar and CPI leader Mutharasan have voiced their support for Kamal, welcoming his entry into politics.

The BJP, like the AIADMK, has attacked Kamal. H. Raja - a national general secretary of the BJP, which only has 3 per cent of Tamil Nadu's vote pie - questioned why the actor had failed to take note of the innumerable graft charges against DMK leaders.

Raja accused Kamal of "hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus" and said Rajinikanth, the other Tamil cinema superstar who has indicated interest in politics, had never done so.

Ironically, the BJP had joined hands with both the AIADMK and the DMK during Atal Bihari Vajpayee's stint as Prime Minister between 1999-2004 despite the many corruption charges against leaders of both the parties.

Viduthalai Chiruthaikal Katchi leader Thol. Thirumavalavan lamented that Kamal's airing of his political views had "diverted the attention of the administration and the public from several important and pressing issues and the ministers were only preoccupied with responding to him".