With speculations rife about a Union Cabinet reshuffle, the Congress has discussed the issue with Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam, the largest ally of the United Progressive Alliance after the exit of the Trinamool Congress. Union Minister V Narayansamy called on DMK chief M Karunanidhi in Chennai on Tuesday, but the latter is learnt to have turned down the offer for the induction of his party MPs in the Manmohan Singh-led Cabinet, party sources said.
'In Tamil Nadu we head the NDA, the BJP is a junior partner.' 'As long as they know that, all will be well.'
The DMK, however, will continue in the National Democratic Alliance extending outside support.
This alliance is for personal survival, not ideology-based support. This alliance is for power, not for the people. This alliance is for personal ambitions, not people's aspirations," the PM charged.
After a see-saw week, the Congress-Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam alliance seems to firmly back on track with reports suggesting that DMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi will speak to Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday and thank her for the Congress's acceptance of their seat-sharing formula.
The INDIA bloc has 95 MPs in Rajya Sabha of which 45 were suspended on Monday.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi's son and Treasurer M K Stalin is among the five persons named by the party to hold seat-sharing talks with alliance parties for the coming parliamentary elections.
Leaders from 26 opposition parties, in power individually or in alliance in Delhi and 10 states, are meeting in Bengaluru to discuss strategy to take on the Narendra Modi-led NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The Congress said the rally by the INDIA will send a "strong message" to the Lok Kalyan Marg, where the prime minister's residence is located, that the BJP-led government's "time is up".
Attempting to form a "secular and democratic alternative" to dethrone the Congress from power at the Centre, the All India Anna Dravida Munetra Kazhagam and the Communist Party of India on Sunday announced their decision to enter into an alliance ahead of the coming Lok Sabha polls.
In further signs of fissures within DMK, party chief M Karunanidhi's son M K Alagiri on Monday skipped the crucial executive committee meet, which is likely to take key decisions in the wake of the party's pullout from the United Progressive Alliance.
Unfazed by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's withdrawal of support to the United Progressive Alliance, the government on Wednesday asserted it was "absolutely stable" and not a "lame duck" and said it will move amendments to the resolution on Sri Lanka at United Nations Human Rights Council to send a "resolute message" on that country's human rights.
Renu Mittal reports on how the United Progressive Alliance government is walking the tight-rope over the Sri Lankan Tamils issue.
The TDP and JD-U will have a lot to answer inside Parliament, day after day, session after session, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Tamil Nadu voter may not be in the mood to test new talent, not when the state and the people are going through unprecedented and unanticipated crises, of which coronavirus is only the first. All of it boils down to an election between the ruling AIADMK and the Opposition DMK next year, with small-timers, had-been parties and promised parties left on the sidelines, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The exit poll results were released at the end of the polling in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, marking the closure of voting in four states and Puducherry.
The BJP top leader's Tamil pitch assumes significance Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had some days back alleged that the saffron party had no respect for Tamil language and culture.
After the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam pulled out of the United Progressive Alliance government on Saturday night after a fall out over seat sharing, the big question being asked in the power corridors in New Delhi was whether the Congress will go alone in the upcoming Tamil Nadu polls.
The single-phase polling for 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu on Thursday will test the capabilities of ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, its rival, the Dravidra Munnetra Kazhagam and the Bharatiya Janata Party, who hopes to ride on the Modi wave after drawing a blank in the previous two polls.
If the DMK sticks to its position and withdraws from the UPA, one thing is certain: this government will be crisis-ridden and crisis-driven till the next election. The Congress party will run a paralytic government at the dictates of the parties supporting it from outside, says Sheela Bhatt.
The Congress is now at its most vulnerable. For the moment, it has weathered the storm caused by the DMK, but not without some loss of credibility and appeal, says Praful Bidwai.
Key United Progressive Alliance ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Sunday said it would not nominate any party representative to the Union ministry to fill vacancies in case of a Cabinet reshuffle.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, a key ally of Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, on Wednesday announced it would contest coming local body elections in Tamil Nadu on its own, saying alliances were required only for Lok Sabha and assembly polls.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and All India Anna Dravida Munetra Kazhagam supremo J Jayalalithaa on Sunday squarely blamed the Centre and the Dravida Munetra Kazhagam for the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka and also the fishermen from the state.
'Is the Agniveer scheme or their post-retirement re-employment in paramilitary forces or in the state governments the BJP's answer to the crying need on the job front?' 'Or, even Finance Minister Sitharaman's one-year internship scheme in the public and private sector, is it a permanent solution, either?', asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
Azad said the "discussion of election strategy was the main purpose."
Key United Progressive Alliance ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and opposition Bharatiya Janata Party were on the same page on Sunday in their criticism of the Centre and the Congress over the handling of the Telangana statehood issue, which has spawned a crisis in Andhra Pradesh.
The cyber crime division have booked the BJP state unit chief under sections of inciting violence and promoting enmity between groups among others.
Eight Union ministers, two former chief ministers and one ex-governor are among those who are set to test their electoral fate in the first phase of elections on April 19 when 102 seats across 21 states and Union territories will go to polls.
The party had quit the NDA citing differences with the BJP's Tamil Nadu unit.
Expressing 'surprise' over India supporting a 'weak' and 'diluted' United States resolution against Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council, former United Progressive Alliance ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Thursday said New Delhi had by its action "totally disappointed" the entire Tamil diaspora.
They said they will raise issues related to rising prices, unemployment, corruption and caste census.
The Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam is all set to withdraw its five Union ministers from the United Progressive Alliance-2 by the weekend to express solidarity with the Sri Lankan Tamil issue. The step is expected to be taken to put UPA-2 on notice if India voted in favour of Sri Lanka in Geneva where the United Nations Human Rights Council is currently in session.
The Congress secured the maximum of 48 seats.
Asked whether his party would support any decision taken by the Congress, Karunanidhi said: "Oh yes."
BJP heavyweights Smriti Irani, Arjun Munda, Ajay Mishra Teni and Kailash Chaudhary were among the 13 Union ministers who tasted defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, as stunning losses in three Hindi heartland states forced the BJP to rely on allies to form the government.
Amid different voices within the Congress and INDIA bloc on DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin's remarks against Sanatan Dharma, the principal opposition party on Monday said it respects all religions and stressed that others also have the freedom to express their views.
Upset over the naming of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi in the 2G scam charge sheet, United Progressive Alliance's key ally Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam on Monday decided to convene a high-level committee meeting on Wednesday to plan its future course of action.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi on Tuesday announced that his party was pulling out of the ruling United Progressive Alliance over its stance on the Lankan Tamils issue.
