Congress leader Shashi Tharoor criticised the proposal to increase the Lok Sabha's strength to 850, while BJP leaders defended delimitation as a democratic necessity at the Stanford India Conference 2026.
From social engineering to bearing the cost of COVID-19 treatment to financial reconstruction of Tamil Nadu's debt the debutant chief minister is emerging as a leader with a difference, says Shjne Jacob
The DMK party in Tamil Nadu has released its manifesto for the upcoming Assembly elections, promising a range of welfare measures focused on women, education, and economic development, including financial assistance and job creation initiatives.
'I am sure Amma's soul is watching over Tamil Nadu and blessing it," Modi said, and was met with a thunderous applause.
The actor-turned-politician did not suffer any injury in the incident.
Actor-politician Vijay held his first public meeting in Puducherry, criticising the central government for neglecting the union territory's demand for statehood and praising the local government's impartiality. He also targeted the DMK government in Tamil Nadu, suggesting they could learn from Puducherry.
The Election Commission has issued a stern notice to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge for calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a 'terrorist'. Kharge has been asked to explain his remarks within 24 hours.
'The Centre is using Panneerselvam.' 'He is not known for standing up for his own rights, let alone for the state.' 'He spoke only after he saw huge protests against Sasikala; otherwise, he would have just complied and continued to walk down the aisle.'
The Election Commission of India is considering launching the final phase of its special intensive revision of voters' lists in the remaining states and Union territories after the assembly elections conclude.
Raja said though the icon of the Dravidian movement, Thanthai Periyar stood for an independent Tamil Nadu, the DMK moved away from it.
Kanyakumari is the tip of India and will convey the symbol that from the tip of India, the Congress is on its way up.
According to the PM, CMC means "Corruption, Mafia, Crime."
'...appearing culturally coercive or administratively vindictive.' 'If it governs as a conquering force, resistance will build.'
Tamil Nadu is the celebrated home of the 'social justice' movement in the country, yet caste differences and violence has only been increasing in numbers and becoming more brutal in recent years, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Look at the way SIR that was implemented in Bengal. They wanted to entirely curate the voter list in order to suit their purposes and victory.' 'Look at the targeted deletions and the targeted voting list.' 'The difference between the TMC and the BJP was only about 4% but that 4% vote was done so selectively that the difference ultimately showed up as 100 seats!'
'Once the numbers come out, they fear that the OBCs would start to demand, and articulate what they are lacking, why they are lacking and what should be done to go forward.'
Recent BJP organisational moves and Rajya Sabha nominations have sparked speculation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi may soon undertake a ministerial reshuffle.
'The feeling is that Rajinikanth is pro-Modi than anti-Modi.'
'With the deaths of Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi, the BJP and Congress thought that they had a chance.' 'They have conceded that power is with the Dravidian parties.'
Despite recent gains, the BJP-led NDA is unlikely to achieve a two-thirds majority in the Rajya Sabha in the near future, highlighting the challenges in passing key legislation requiring constitutional amendments.
'People don't like leaders who just crib and complain without offering a clear objective.' 'Theoretically and pragmatically, Rahul has to show an agenda beyond bad-mouthing Mr Modi on economic policies, foreign policy...'
Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan, with strong roots in the RSS and BJP, has been elected as the 15th Vice President of India. His rich political and administrative experience will be valuable as the Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha.
Virtually friendless in Tamil Nadu, Congress on Monday said it would be going it alone in the state in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Dr Vasudevan Maitreyan, was virtually the face of the AIADMK in New Delhi since February 2002, finds himself ignored by the current leadership.
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.
With election campaign ending in Tamil Nadu before it goes to polls on Thursday, N Sathiya Moorthy lists a few questions uppermost in the minds of voters.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed BJP workers after the party's performance in assembly elections, urging an end to political violence in West Bengal and a focus on the state's future.
For Prime Minister Narendra Modi to dig up the perceived past of the DMK rival, now under a new leader in M K Stalin, may not gel with the voters, both old and new. If they are still going to vote for the AIADMK-BJP combine, it will be for entirely different reasons, and despite Modi's poll speeches, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The reason why they rushed through the bill was they wanted to avoid using the 2026 Census because the 2026 Census by their own decision will be a caste census.' 'The BJP knows that a significant share of the OBCs who will get captured in the census, for the first time after the 1931 Census, are against the BJP. Only a segment of the OBCs are in their favour.' 'So they wanted to avoid the OBC reservation among women, which is a demand of a lot of Opposition parties.'
S A Chandrasekhar, father of actor-politician Vijay, has appealed to the Congress party to form an alliance with his son's party, TVK, in the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.
AICC leader Pawan Khera has accused the CPI(M) and BJP of having a tacit understanding in the Kerala Assembly elections, alleging that both parties are deliberately fielding weak candidates to help each other. Khera expressed confidence in the Congress-led UDF's victory due to strong anti-incumbency sentiment.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has accused the BJP of orchestrating raids on premises linked to I-PAC executives to disrupt their election campaign in West Bengal, alleging vendetta politics and interference in the electoral process.
The AIADMK is facing a potential split after post-election disagreements, with one faction voting against the government and another defying party orders. Key leaders have been removed from their posts, and accusations are flying between the opposing sides.
Speaking to Rediff.com in New Delhi on Wednesday, Javadekar, who had visited Chennai last week and met Vijayakanth at the latter's home, said the negotiations between the two parties were on and there was no break-up as reported by some sections of the media.
'If the Opposition associates itself too much with the minorities, then it becomes easy for the BJP to get Hindu consolidation votes.'
Vijay said the 2026 assembly election carried a new environment that had never seen before.
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Saturday said it has arrested Jaffer Sadiq, a Tamil Nadu-based alleged dealer of narcotics, in connection with an international drugs trafficking investigation case.
What lessons opposition parties need to learn post defeat of Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal elections? The election saw spectacular victor of BJP which rose from 3 seats in 2016 to 206 seats in 2026 assembly elections.
The Tamil Nadu state unit of the BJP has been alleging that its leaders have been systematically being attacked/murdered in the state. A Ganesh Nadar bring to light five cases where workers of the BJP or its affiliate organisations were attacked to find out if there is any truth in the charges.
