For the first time since 1985, Tamil Nadu has voted in favour of an incumbent party which has been a shock to those in Anna Arivalayam -- the office of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Chennai.
"I myself come from a non-Hindi state of Gujarat. If some people want to do politics, it is their choice," Shah told reporters in New Delhi.
The DMK chief said it was a 'resounding victory' given to his party led alliance by the people of Tamil Nadu.
Words and actions like those of R N Ravi and a vocal section of the state BJP have only added to Tamil fears and suspicions, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Congress MP from Sivaganga also slammed the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance and said the people of Tamil Nadu do not want a government which has any "stain, scent or shadow" of the BJP as its 'Hindi-Hindutva' agenda "irritates" them.
She vowed to usher in Amma's rule by winning the 2026 assembly polls.
Polling for the first phase of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections commences on Friday, April 19, 2024, with 102 seats out of 543 seats going to the polls.
With its age-old fascination for education, southern states have done better than the North. Start-ups, IT hubs, and industry majors setting up shop have changed the face of the South. Nearly 79% of global offices set up by international conglomerates in India are in the South. Almost 46% of tech unicorns are from the South. The GDP per person in the South is 4.2 times higher than the North. None of these indicators can be ignored by any central government, whatever the political compulsions, notes Ramesh Menon.
Alleging lack of intra-party democracy in the Dravida Munetra Kazhagam, former union minister D Napoleon on Sunday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has set eyes on strengthening its presence in Tamil Nadu ahead of 2016 assembly elections.
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief J Jayalalithaa on Monday issued legal notices to three media organisations, including the DMK-backed Kalaignar TV, for carrying 'frivolous' reports linking her to Pune-based businessman Hasan Ali Khan, accused of stashing black money abroad.
In an unprecedented dismal show, M Karunanidhi-led Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam on Friday headed for a rout in Tamil Nadu as its arch rival All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was well set for a clean sweep, surging ahead in 35 seats out of 39 seats.
"The result of the RK Nagar bypoll is an outcome of the tacit understanding between DMK working president M K Stalin and Dinakaran," Panneerselvam and Palaniswami said in a joint statement on Sunday night.
The 65-year-old leader's ascent as the DMK chief heralds a new era in the Dravidian party, making him only the second man after his father to be elected as party president.
Nachiappan, however, ruled out an alliance with the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, as it was a "replica of the Bharatiya Janata Party".
The 94-year-old leader is currently being treated for fever due to urinary tract infection with intravenous antibiotics and fluids.
The Tamil Nadu Bishops Council's decision to support the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-Congress alliance in the upcoming elections will vitiate the political atmosphere in the state, reports R Ramasubramanian.
A medical oncologist at the Kalaignar Centenary Super Speciality Hospital in Chennai was stabbed seven times on Wednesday by the son of a patient allegedly over grievances on treatment to his mother at the same facility, a hospital official said.
Joining issue with Narendra Modi over criticism of his party besides ruling All India Anna Dravida Munetra Kazhagam, Dravida Munetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi on Monday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party leader's comments will only earn him the wrath of people of Tamil Nadu but remained tightlipped on Rajnikanth's praise for the Gujarat chief minister.
It was decided by Tamil Nadu Congress to push for at least 45 seats and in a worst case scenario climb down a few seats and conclude the deal and it has worked out as was expected.
AIADMK insiders see the very idea of an NDA conclave as a measure of the BJP's current electoral assessment, stemming from relative weakness in 2024 compared to 2014 and 2019. In their reckoning, the BJP now needs allies more than the other way round, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M Karunanidhi on Friday said Narendra Modi's invitation to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa for his swearing-in was "not acceptable and unwelcome" by Tamils all over the world and urged the BJP leader to drop the initiative.
The Congress secured the maximum of 48 seats.
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."
In the continuing crackdown by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government on land grabbing, former Tamil Nadu Minister and senior Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Veerapandi Arumugam and his party MLA J Anbalagan were arrested on Saturday in different cases.
The DMK leadership may now have to deal with a demand for more seats from its Congress ally in the Lok Sabha polls, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Promising to espouse the cause of Tamils living the world over, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Tuesday promised to press the Centre to take steps for conducting a referendum among Tamils in Lanka for their homeland and to appoint only Tamil envoys to nations which have a sizeable Diaspora.
A day after Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam announced its decision to pull out of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government, the party said today that its ministers would submit their resignations on Monday.
DMK-led alliance captures Coimbatore, Tirupur
V P Duraisamy's exit will in no way upset the poll scene in western Tamil Nadu, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
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
Kanimozhi, poet-daughter of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam patriarch M Karunanidhi, and Tiruchi N Siva, a former Lok Sabha member, are the DMK nominees for the June 15 Rajya Sabha elections from Tamil Nadu.
In a one-horse race, ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam led by Jayalalithaa on Friday inflicted a crushing defeat on its arch-rival DMK, Congress and BJP-led six-party alliance, winning 4 seats and establishing unassailable leads in 33 out of the 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu.
In the continuing crackdown by All India Anna Dravida Munetra Kazhagam government on land grabbing, former Transport Minister and senior Dravida Munetra Kazhagam leader K N Nehru and two others were arrested in Tiruchirappalli on Thursday, while another functionary was taken into custody in Coimbatore.
'We have to change the Dravidian influence on the people.'
The results will be announced on May 2.
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.
Arjunan claimed that some persons belonging to the DMK in the guise of public abused him and his mother.
It is a sea of men clad in veshtis with distinctive party colour border design seeking votes with a smile and folded hands for their party candidates. The town is abuzz, with electioneering at its peak, and teeming trendy cars criss-cross the busy roads and bylanes bringing in more and more leaders from elsewhere for campaign.
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.
A number of leaders from Tamil Nadu, including 15 former MLAs and an ex-MP, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in New Delhi on Wednesday as the ruling party looks to strengthen its presence in the southern state in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.
