A formal decision would be made on the Chief Ministerial candidate of the NDA once the Election Commission issues the notification for the assembly elections, expected in April-May, he said, adding the strategy was part of the ongoing exercise to strengthen the BJP in the state.
Jaitley, the first Union minister to meet Jaya since her conviction, manages to secure the AIADMK's conditional support to the government's crucial legislations in the Rajya Sabha.
A Ganesh Nadar meets M Radha, the first transgender candidate in the fray for Lok Sabha elections from Tamil Nadu.
A bench comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde and justices R Subhash Reddy and A S took note of the submission of the main opposition party of the state that speaker has not been taking any decision on the MLAs for last three years and issued notices to him, assembly secretary and 11 lawmakers including O Panneerselvam.
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.
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.
Stalin has given due respect to seniority in the pecking order, but has also taken into consideration the demands of individual ministries and the suitability of individuals, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Tamil Nadu has around 30 per cent or more of 'swing voters', and it is this segment that will swing the pre-poll alliance decision, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
An All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam youth wing secretary was among the three men arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with the sensational 2019 sexual harassment case in Pollachi town, taking the total number of persons held so far to eight.
Bypolls in three assembly constituencies in as many states passed off peacefully on Monday with around over 70 per cent voter turnout, though some technical glitches in electronic voting machine were reported in Tamil Nadu and the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal alleged that the Central Reserve Police Force was "influencing" voters.
Stalin said that even in Gujarat the vice-chancellors are not appointed by the governor but the State.
Good intentions and elaborate roadmaps apart, there is an urgent need for the Tamil Nadu chief minister to come up with branded schemes like MGR's meal scheme, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general council meeting on Monday revived the general secretary post, and picked Edappadi K Palaniswami as the interim GS.
Ahead of next week's crucial general council meeting, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is at the crossroads with differences among Karunanidhi family members over the succession issue, threatening to make the two-day meet at Coimbatore a stormy affair.
Karunanidhi said he was 'totally surprised' to see an announcement that EC had not prevented the state government from implementing the ongoing schemes.
'I don't think after Amma, the cult of personality will endure.' 'I think there will be a shift back to the politics of ideology and principles rather than a cult of personality.'
Incidentally, Pannerselvam's call for unity also pertained to deposed AIADMK leader VK Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran.
The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the 10.5 per cent reservation provided to Vanniyars, a Most Backward Community (MBC) in Tamil Nadu, in government jobs and admission to educational institutions.
'It may take the AIADMK much more convincing than already, not only to try and bring around even the one-time Muslim voters of the party. 'More importantly, the party leadership may find it even more difficult to convince traditional party voters and cadres, who had admired Jaya's nonchalance to the party and leader ruling the Centre,' says N Sathiya Moorthy.
"Some are creating an impression that Rajinikanth is to launch a party at the instigation of people who intend to decimate the Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu. "Let me tell you, this is the land of Periyar (Dravidar Kazhagam founder E V Ramasamy Naicker), Anna (C N Annadurai) and Kalaignar (Karunanidhi)... such efforts in the past have ended in a fiasco," Stalin said.
MDMK General Secretary Vaiko meets Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and gets 10 seats more than what he wanted from DMK
Former chief minister of Puducherry V Narayanasamy on Wednesday cautioned the voters against supporting the alliance comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party, AINRC and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in the coming assembly polls as these parties would have no qualms to merge the Union territory with Tamil Nadu.
Stalin, along with cadres of the DMK and other parties, came in a procession in Tiruvarur and was detained in a marriage hall, police said, adding they will be let off later.
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.
To all those who were expecting the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam alliance to do well (some even predicted a sweep), the Tamil Nadu results came as a big surprise. What went in favour of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam alliance at the last minute is anybody's guess.
Second-line AIADMK leaders and cadres alike say that by starting the talks first with the BJP and committing the party to an alliance without discussing seat-sharing, the leadership might have commenced the coalition discourse at the wrong end. According to them, even 20 seats for the BJP may be too many, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
It does not stop here, though. According to field information, state ministers, AIADMK candidates and campaigners are asking BJP cadres accompanying them not to carry party flags at common rallies and also avoid their saffron shawl on those occasions. BJP cadres are also asked to stay out of the common campaign when it enters a minority-dominated areas, especially of Muslims, and re-join later, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Joining the BJP at its national headquarters, Annamalai heaped praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he embodies a leader's qualities of fearlessness, courage, knowledge and giving spirit.
Tiruvarur is one of the worst-hit districts in the Cauvery delta region of Tamil Nadu due to severe cyclonic storm Gaja in November, 2018.
Tamil Nadu chief secretary said that the request could not be sanctioned, owing to the legal issues at Marina Beach.
'The BJP wants an AIADMK government so that they can implement their policies.' 'All the policies implemented in UP are being implemented in Tamil Nadu.'
The Congress-led government in Puducherry on Monday lost the confidence vote sought by Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, in the face of its depleted strength of 11 against the opposition's 14 following resignation of ruling dispensation MLAs, including a Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam legislator.
Vowing to retain power for the second time in a row, they said such 'anti-people' forces must be taught a lesson again by vanquishing them through hardwork, unity and allegiance to the party.
Southern Railway however clarified that the issue was the result of a particular user selecting Hindi as the preferred language while registering in the IRCTC website. 'Language is an option in e-ticketing,' a Southern Railway release said.
Claims over leadership became the focal point at the former All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam supremo J Jayalalithaa's death anniversary event held in Chennai on Sunday with the main opposition party in Tamil Nadu, led by O Panneerselvam and K Palaniswami, asserting that it is a 'fortress' that cannot be shaken by anyone.
Without strategising together, Jayalalithaa's successor, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, and M Karunanidhi's son-cum-successor, M K Stalin, have used tough-talking on seat-sharing with allies, to replace charisma that they purportedly lacked, during the run-up to the assembly polls scheduled for April 6, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
We supported the Panneerselvam-led government on certain people's issues, on certain policies and Bills, Stalin said.
'Sometimes we use political pressure and sometimes political acumen to get what we want.'
"Stalin, who has the qualification to sit in the Main Opposition (possibly as its Leader) after DMK won 89 seats, was given seat among the crowd whereas Sarath Kumar was seated in the front row," Karunanidhi said in a statement.
