United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi wants Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam M Karunanidhi to be present when the Congress nominee for the Presidential Polls presents his/her nomination papers on June 16 to Returning Officer V K Aghnihotri in Parliament House, say sources in New Delhi.
Ever since the DMK pulled out of the NDA, the MDMK has been under pressure to follow suit as the DMK had taken up Vaiko's detention under the Prevention of Terrorism Act as a major issue.
'Let me stick my neck out and say that Tamil Nadu will keep alive its reputation for landslide election verdicts, with the DMK front winning at least 30 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats going to the polls in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
As results pour in for the four states -- West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam -- and one Union Territory -- Puducherry - here's a glimpse at the leaders who are trailing and those who are leading.
Rahul Gandhi replied on Twitter, saying, 'Thank you for your greetings @narendramodi ji. I appreciate them.'
One more ruling Congress legislator A John Kumar, a close confidant of Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, resigned his MLA post on Tuesday, in yet another jolt to the ruling Congress dispensation ahead of the assembly polls due in few months.
Seeking to create a pressure group in the ruling United Progressive Alliance to take on the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday called up Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav and Dravida Munetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi.
The drafting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee report on 2G scam could be delayed with key United Progressive Alliance ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam insisting on calling former Telecom Minister A Raja as a witness.
Counting of votes is underway for four Lok Sabha and eight assembly Constituencies, spread across six states and one Union Territory where by-elections were held on Saturday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has "no respect" for the culture, language and people of Tamil Nadu, he alleged.
Union Minister of State for Finance S S Palanimanickam of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam will skip his boss Pranab Mukherjee's Budget presentation on Friday.
It is the third party in Tamil Nadu, after DMK and MDMK, to quit the BJP-led alliance.
Prashant Kishor's remarks have ruffled some feathers within his own party
The deadlock over finalising alliances has had a deleterious effect on the candidates of every party. The delay in alliance conclusion has also sent out confusing signals to the grass-roots who are unsure who will be their party candidate, or which party within an alliance will be allotted a particular constituency, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
A senior political commentator has said that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha is the modern 'Mahishasur Mardini' who has taken birth to trounce the Congress in Tamil Nadu.
The notion that the BJP gained its increased tally by wiping out the Left parties and the Congress is completely misleading. Equally misleading is the belief that the TMC held its ground in all its existing seats. A little more than a fifth of the seats Mamata Banerjee's party had won in 2016 was lost to the BJP this time.
The real battle for NEET abolition can take much more time and energy, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Gandhi said he has "received tremendous love and affection from people of Tamil Nadu and it is my duty to stand with people of Tamil Nadu and protect their history, their culture and their language."
Hours after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced the second Cabinet reshuffle of the present United Progressive Alliance government, Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam chief M. Karunanidhi on Tuesday said the reshuffle is not complete yet. "The reshuffle is not complete yet. I will comment on it after a formal announcement," he told mediapersons in Chennai.
But, Haasan said he one could not rule out an electoral alliance between the two.
The fact remains that in the present-day Tamil Nadu, GenX and GenY voters, born and/or growing up after the end of 'Kamaraj rule' in the '60s and 'MGR rule', respectively, constitute an absolute majority of the electorate. If they still vote for a Rajini or Kamal, in preference to the established 'Dravidian voters', it is despite the MGR imagery, not because of it, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The move of expelled All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader V K Sasikala to stay away from politics has fuelled various theories on her decision while the ruling party confined itself to poll related work like holding interview for ticketaspirants.
Jayalalithaa's attack on BJP's PM hopeful a little too late in the coming, says N Sathiya Moorthy
Even as political parties in TN have decided not to field a candidate against CM Jayalalithaa in the assembly by-election, the BJP's ambivalence has shown up once again.
After Shah said Hindi is the most spoken language which can unite the nation as a common language, Tamil Nadu parties rallied against it.
"This election has upheld true democracy shattering to pieces the campaign of lies of DMK. This election has put a permanent full stop to the family rule," she said.
The DMK is having a meeting on Saturday to discuss the situation arising out the raids and what steps the party needs to take and what kind of reaction to formulate.
On the 45th year of the imposition of Emergency in the country, Shah claimed leaders are feeling suffocated in the Congress and the party's disconnect with people keeps widening.
Congress nominee from Sivaganga and Finance Minister P Chidambaram's son Karti Chidambaram says he has been working for the party since 1996.
The Congress fears of a loss of credibility, the dwindling fortunes of the DMK and a chance for one-upmanship over the Opposition, especially the BJP, meant that A Raja had to got to jail, says Sheela Bhatt
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK supremo M Karunanidhi's gesture to send a high-level team led by the education and archaeological department to meet Modi in Gandhinagar on Monday has created a flutter in Congress circles in New Delhi
The BJP's relations with some alliance partners, including its oldest ally the Shiv Sena, Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United, Akali Dal and Rashtriya Lok Samta Party of Union minister Upendra Kushwaha, have been somewhat tense, and Shah's comments are being seen as an attempt to smooth their ruffled feathers.
RJD president Lalu Prasad will not attend the celebrations due to ill health.
Continuing its winning streak, the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Sunday retained the Yercaud (ST) assembly constituency, with party nominee P Saroja romping home with a massive margin of 78,116 votes against her DMK rival V Maran
If the Congress lost in Tamil Nadu in 1967, never to return, or the DMK and the AIADMK have kept their place in power and electoral politics since then, it owes not to their love or hatred for gods or for one religion over another. Instead, they had always been linked to performance and incumbency/anti-incumbency factors. There may be something in such constructs for Rajini's strategic team to consider, especially if the superstar is to enter direct politics by around this time next year. But then, they would need to brush up their homework more than at present, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
A massive swing of 21.3 per cent in vote share propelled the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam to coast to a resounding victory in 37 of the 39 seats leaving miles behind rivals including the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Congress, Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam and the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu.
In an exclusive interview with CNN-IBN, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunandhi defended himself in the 2G spectrum scam and noted that it's not a scam till it's proven in the Supreme Court.
Offering balm to the Congress, the Samajwadi Party said there was no threat to the United Progressive Alliance government despite the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's decision to pull out its ministers and the party will continue to extend support to it.
A staunch supporter of slain LTTE supremo V Prabhakaran, he also criticised the former prime minister for sending the Indian Peacekeeping Force to Sri Lanka in the 1980s.
No one at this point no one in the state is talking about a clean sweep with high victory margins that the AIADMK front won in the 2011 assembly elections. The 'Modi factor', as against a 'Modi wave', has ensured as much, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
