The stage is set for the second by-poll of the year in Tamil Nadu at Pudukottai on Tuesday where former friends All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam will fight each other, with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam choosing to skip the contest.
Dubbing Opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam as an "evil force", All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday accused it of 'conniving' with ally Congress and the United Progressive Alliance government to create hurdles in Tamil Nadu's progress.
The AIADMK is facing a deeper crisis as factions clash over the floor test of the TVK government, with accusations of defying party directives and demands for disqualification under the anti-defection law.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam workers would thwart any move by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government to "usurp" the party headquarters Anna Arivalayam, alleged to have been built on grabbed land, DMK chief M Karunanidhi said on Friday night.
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Member of Parliament Ganeshamurthy and Communist Party of India member of Legislative Assembly M Arumugam were arrested on Sunday along with 1,000 workers of different parties when they tried to cross to Kerala to stage a demonstration to protest that government's move to build a dam across Bhavani river in Chittoor.
The DMDK officially joined the DMK-led alliance ahead of the upcoming Tamil Nadu assembly elections, marking a significant political development in the state.
'Captain,' as the actor is called by his admirers, has emerged as a potential alternative to both the DMK and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
Expelled All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader and nine-time MLA, KA Sengottaiyan joined Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) along with his supporters on Thursday, a day after he resigned as the Gobichettipalayam MLA.
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief Jayalalithaa on Wednesday alleged that the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam had indulged in various electoral malpractices to secure victory in the bye-elections to the Tiruchendur and Vandavasi assembly constituencies.
Even a day after the filing of nominations opened for April 13 assembly polls began in Tamil Nadu, the political scene remains unclear, with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam still struggling to put the alliance led by it in shape.
In New Delhi The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam during winter session of Parliament would maintain neutrality, but will oppose the United Progressive Alliance-II's stance on price rise and the Kudankulam issues.
The Congress on Monday announced its alliance with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam would continue for Lok Sabha polls, setting at rest speculation about the future of the tie-up in the wake of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's overture to the lead United Progressive Alliance party.
Ousting Congress, All India NR Congress - All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam combine on Friday secured a majority winning 17 of the 26 seats for which results were declared and was leading in two in the elections to the 30-member Puducherry Assembly.
In the backdrop of more and more Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leaders coming under the police net for their alleged roles in land grabbing cases, a party advocate has moved the National Human Rights Commission alleging violation of rights and charging ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam with indulging in vendetta politics.
In the continuing crackdown by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government on land grabbing, a former Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam member of Legislative Assembly was on Tuesday arrested for his alleged role in a case. Ranganathan was arrested in Chennai based on a complaint, the police said.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge's remark calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a 'terrorist' has triggered strong reactions from the BJP, who have demanded an apology from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Wednesday alleged that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was linked with the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in an "indirect way."
What will be the effect of Jayalalithaa first salvo against Rajapaksa? How will it impact India's Sri Lanka policy? These are some of the questions likely to be debated more frequently in the coming months.
For the second consecutive day, Lok Sabha on Thursday failed to transact any business as the proceedings remained paralysed, with angry members of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam disrupting the House, seeking an international inquiry into atrocities against ethnic Tamils in the island nation.
The party said though actor-turned-politician Vijaykant, who founded the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam, speaks about people's problems, his economic policies were not known. The Pattali Makkal Katchi was also raising a lot of people's problems
India on Thursday continued to be evasive on its stand to be adopted on the resolution against Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Commission, triggering an angry walk out in Lok Sabha by United Progressive Alliance constituent Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which was joined by the Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal-United.
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Jayalalithaa on Wednesday claimed that the Tamil Nadu government had refused to pay the daily allowance to security personnel on poll duty and alleged that the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam might create violence in the event of their absence.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Members of Parliament on Thursday shouted slogans over Sri Lankan Tamil issue during the maiden address of President Pranab Mukherjee in Parliament.
Poongothai first successfully contested from this constituency in 2006, two years after her father Aruna, a Law Minister in the 1996-2001 DMK government, was killed allegedly by his rivals in his native place. When he was killed, Aladi Aruna was not with the DMK.
"By making this assertion, Karunanidhi is not expressing his concern for the poor and downtrodden in the state. On the contrary he was only publicly reinforcing the rich-poor divide," she said in a statement in Chennai.
As reports of tension prevailed on the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border over the Cauvery water row, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi on Monday said the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu should not give room to turn the feeling of "bitterness" among people of the states into "enmity".
Buckling under pressure from the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday decided to hand over to the Central Bureau of Investigation five cases regarding repeated death threats issued to its party chief Jayalalithaa. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government's decision comes a day after an AIADMK delegation made yet another representation to the chief secretary and home secretary demanding a CBI probe into the threats.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief Karunanidhi has summoned all DMK MPs in Chennai on Tuesday, to discuss the nuke liability bill, common enterance test for medical students other political issues affecting the state.
The bypoll was necessitated following the death of DMK minister P G R Palanivelrajan.
Opposition parties in Tamil Nadu, led by All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, on Tuesday appealed to President Pratibha Patil to give consent for use of Tamil as the official language in Madras high court before attending the World Classical Tamil Conference in Coimbatore this week.
The continuing exodus has left the party short of leaders, especially those credited with "excellent" organisational skills. The local strongmen, who switched sides, are reaping rich rewards in DMK.
The Bharatiya Janata Party garnered five seats, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam got three, the Samajwadi Party, the Nationalist Congress Party and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam got two apiece and the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Shiv Sena got one each respectively as all 30 made it to the Upper House after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations drew to close on Thursday evening.
The Union Cabinet on Thursday repealed the Tamil Nadu Legislative Council Act, thereby laying the foundation of a political strategy to woo the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. After Home Minister P Chidambaram proposed the agenda and sought the views of other ministers in the Cabinet, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave his go-ahead for the repeal.
With Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam joining hands with All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, rumours had it that DMDK will follow suit.
"Our traditional stand has been that we have never supported any country-specific resolution at the UNHCHR," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Lok Sabha as DMK, AIADMK and CPI members rushed to the Well raising slogans on the issue.
He claimed that a couple of days ago Karunanidhi had reportedly said in Thanjavur that the award was more advantageous to Tamil Nadu than to Karnataka.
J Jayalalithaa's All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has stayed away from by-elections in Tamil Nadu since its defeat in the assembly polls in 2006. However, in the forthcoming by-elections for Thiruchendur and Vandavasi constituencies, the party will take on the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam with a sole motive.
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam will contest 182 of 234 seats in the May 8 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, party supremo Jayalalithaa announced in Chennai Friday.
A Ganesh Nadar reports on the Jayalalitha government's crackdown on land grabbing in Tamil Nadu. Many of the accused are DMK leaders, including former ministers and MLAs.
Karunanidhi had questioned a scheme of the AIADMK.
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