Taking the war of freebies to a new high, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam manifesto for the April 13 assembly elections on Thursday promised 20 kg of free rice for ration card-holders, laptops for students from classes XI, free fans, mixers and grinders to all and mineral water to BPL families. In a bid to woo women voters, Jayalalithaa promised four gm of gold for the 'thali' (mangalsutra) free of cost to the poor, besides cable TV connections at subsidised rate
On the occasion of her 63rd birthday, AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa on Thursday urged her party workers to defeat the ruling DMK in the forthcoming assembly polls. The party also organised various welfare events such as blood-donation camps and mass-feeding programmes across Tamil Nadu to mark the day.Her party has been out of power since 2006 and it performed below expected levels in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.
The alliance captured civic bodies in Madurai, Coimbatore, Tirunelveli, Salem, and Tiruchirappalli.
AIADMK leaders said his party was not opposed to the Ram Sethu project, but was against its current alignment.
The AIADMK's move to vote for Shekawat signals the collapse of the UNPA, the coalition of regional parties, including Telugu Desam Party and Samajwadi Party, political observers said.
In his petition, Kuppusamy had said that during the 2001 polls Jayalalithaa had suppressed the fact that she had filed nominations from four seats and filed a 'false affidavit' saying that she had filed papers from only two constituencies.
The bypoll is considered a test for ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-led front, which assumed office five months ago.
Dealing yet another blow to arch rival All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday won the Vandavasi and Tiruchendur assembly seats which went to by-polls on December 19. In the bitterly fought polls, DMK's Anitha R Radhakrishnan trounced AIADMK's T Narayanan by an impressive margin of over 46,000 votes in Tiruchendur, while his colleague Kamalakannan romped home in Vandavasi by over 38,000 votes.
For the first time in recent times, rebellion was open in the monolithic AIADMK with party workers wanting change of candidates in so many places.
The decision comes amid an assessment of potential security threats and follows standard protocol based on inputs from central security agencies.
'If a floor test happens, one group of MLAs may abstain to allow the confidence vote to pass. So theoretically, he can run a minority government as long as the others won't join each other to vote him out.'
DMK president M Karunanidhi on Monday said the AIADMK's victory in the byelections to the Tamil Nadu assembly from Kancheepuram and Gummidipoondi was due to 'misuse of official machinery'.
All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Jayalalithaa on Monday accused the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre and the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu of not doing anything tangible to solve the Sri Lankan Tamils issue and warned them of the 'consequences'.
This is the second time that Vaiko had been arrested for supporting the banned outfit. He was arrested under POTA by the previous All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government for speaking in support of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
In a bid to appease the public following the AIADMK's rout in the polls, she also restored free power to farmers.
Riding on an anti-incumbency wave, Jayalalithaa-led All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam front on Friday stormed to power handing a crushing defeat to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-Congress combine in Tamil Nadu assembly polls.
Whether he comes to power or not, both his admirers and opponents agree on one thing -- Vijay may well turn out to be the 'X factor'.
He may be cooling his heels in Delhi's Tihar Jail for his alleged involvement in the 2G scam, but the developmental work and the projects he executed in this reserved constituency are the main plank of the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which is facing a tough competition from arch-rival All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam will go to the polls this year with 43 candidates who have pending criminal charges against them, while their arch rival Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam has fielded 24 such candidates, according to a report by the National Election Watch.
Shobha Warrier analyses why Srirangam, with its large chunk of Vaishnavite Brahmin population, makes perfect sense for All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief J Jayalalitha decision to contest an election from there.
Counting of votes begins in Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, and West Bengal, with significant implications for regional and national parties.
The meeting assumes significance in the context of an uneasy relationship between the BJP and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
In yet another attack on arch rival M Karunanidhi, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Thursday vowed to put an end to the 'arrogance of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and uproot the party' in the next Lok Sabha polls.
'Some statements and actions of the AIADMK are nearer to the BJP's ideology. We welcome it,' says Tamil Nadu BJP Chief L Ganesan.
Asserting that Jayalalithaa and her close confidante Sasikala owned the estate in Nilgiris district, Karunanidhi said he had released documentary evidence to prove that the duo invested Rs 3.60 crore in the property.
The Legislative Council was abolished 20 years ago.
Senior Congress leader to support AIADMK
In the last Lok Sabha elections, Congress won all 10 of the seats it contested.
AIADMK supremo and Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa constituted a six-member committee on Monday to hold seat-sharing discussions with alliance parties for assembly polls in Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and Kerala.
While the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam contested it under the seven-party Democratic Progressive Alliance banner, her party contested the polls on its own, the CM said.
The ruling All Indian Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Monday retained both Kancheepuram and Gummidipoondi assembly seats in the byelection held on May 14.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam candidate Latha Athiaman is leading by more than 5000 votes over All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's Muthuramalingam after the first round of counting of votes in the bypoll to the Tirumangalam assembly constituency, for which elections were held on Janury 9.
Nachiappan, however, ruled out an alliance with the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, as it was a "replica of the Bharatiya Janata Party".
In apparent signs of thaw after years of bickering stemming out of internal feud in the AIADMK in the past, party chief Edappadi K Palaniswami welcomed Dhinakaran back in to the National Democratic Alliance. The AMMK founder reciprocated with a "heartfelt thanks," yet admitting there was "sibling rivalry" with AIADMK, the party he was once associated with.
Exit Poll conducted by TeamcVoter throws up interesting results in the four states of Tamil Nadu, Assam, West Bengal and Kerala
The PMK may join the Jayalalitha led front for the forthcoming elections, after the DMK snapped ties with them.
It will be interesting to see who will represent the constituency as its first MLA in the Tamil Nadu assembly.
The Chinese incursions sparked sharp reactions from Indian political parties on Thursday with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam saying India needed a government with "steel in its spine and not jelly" so that it does not become a "punching bag", while the Samajwadi Party demanded to know the country's military preparedness.
But there is no serious threat because the NDA government has a decisive majority.
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