Putting up a spirited performance in the assembly by-polls despite its Lok Sabha debacle, the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu has won nine of the 22 segments where elections were held in two phases in April and May.
Following his resignation, the second this week, the Congress' strength further slipped to 13, while the opposition has 14 MLAs in the 33-member house which has five vacancies.
Voting for the bypolls in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Tamil Nadu were held on Wednesday.
But not for too long, as TTV Dinakaran can still play spoilsport, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Confidence vote stalled after ruckus by opposition.
Constituencies that are going to the polls in the first phase, slated for April 19, have just 19 days for campaigning. Contrast that with those going to polls in the 7th phase, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
After days of deliberations, a point of conclusion was reached late Saturday night and Congress leader and Tamil Nadu in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao told reporters that the agreement was signed in "a spirit of cooperation" when the country was facing a 'threat' from the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Chief Minister M K Stalin on Tuesday launched a Rs 225.86 crore welfare assistance scheme here for Sri Lankan Tamil refugees living in camps in Tamil Nadu and alleged that the previous AIADMK regime was not concerned about them.
The legislators moved out of the resort as it was already booked for the weekend, sources said.
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.
The 62-year old MLA, born on June 10, 1958 incidentally died on his 62nd birthday today and he is the first legislator victim of COVID-19 in the state and perhaps the first elected representative to die of the virus induced illness in the country. Anbazhagan battled severe COVID-19 triggered pneumonia and his health condition rapidly deteriorated early morning on Wednesday, Dr Rela Institute and Medical Centre, where he was treated said in a statement.
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.
Ending its decade long stint in the opposition, even relegated to the third spot in the House in 2011, the M K Stalin-led Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam made a spirited comeback to the ruling saddle to unseat its rival the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazagham on Monday named two party nominees for the Rajya Sabha election and announced that the third seat was being allotted to ally Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
The DMK chief said it was a 'resounding victory' given to his party led alliance by the people of Tamil Nadu.
After a gap of 10 years, the DMK snatched the reins of power from arch rival AIADMK, with its president M K Stalin leading the party to a stellar performance and in the process, helming the state as chief minister for the first time.
Though both the Dravidian majors are facing questions on family politics, the ruling party especially finds itself in the dock since its late leader J Jayalalithaa had often used it to target her party's archrival DMK.
Stalin disapproved of the act of some his party legislators sitting in the chair of Speaker P Dhanapal in the assembly.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Monday said it would soon move a no-confidence motion against Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal as it accused him of "deliberately harping on his community to malign" the party.
'The people of Tamil Nadu in particular Chennai know about the double standards of the BJP. Nothing will work for them here.'
Ten senior DMDK functionaries on Tuesday raised a banner of revolt against the party high command's decision to align with the PWF for the May 16 assembly polls, virtually giving an ultimatum to Vijayakanth to reverse his decision by noon on Wednesday.
DMK leader MK Stalin is concerned that a no-trust move would force the EPS faction to patch up with not only the OPS group but also the TTV camp and also get the 'Two Leaves' poll symbol unfrozen, which could upset his party's electoral apple cart, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
CM Stalin has a procedural problem. Nominating new ministers would entail his having to seek formal permission from governor R N Ravi. Stalin does not want to interact with the person of this governor, as far as possible, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
The video recording of the House proceedings on February 18 must be from the commencement till the end, the court said.
E K Palaniswami had won the trust vote 122-11 in the 234-member assembly aided by the eviction of main opposition DMK and walkout by its allies, amid stormy scenes during which mikes were uprooted, chairs toppled and sheets of papers torn.
He demanded an order for CM, seeking a vote of confidence.
The BJP has the maximum number of such politicians.
Stalin, in an interview to a daily, has refuted the FM's allegations, saying "everyone present in the Assembly knew it was a drama enacted by herself," referring to the late Jayalalithaa.
If either faction of the AIADMK failed to muster a floor majority, then the governor would be called upon to ask MK Stalin as the leader of the opposition if he would like to try his hand at government formation.
'My friend scored higher than me in the 12th exam, but he could not clear NEET because his parents could not pay the fees for private coaching.'
Vigilance officials on Wednesday conducted raids at premises belonging to former Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam minister Thangam Thennarasu and his relatives across Tamil Nadu in connection with a disproportionate assets case.
Stalin said one cannot and should not decide the mood of the entire country based on the results of one state elections.
His comments come a day after state Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar claimed that 111 MLAs had attended the meet convened by the chief minister.
Leaders from 26 opposition parties, in power individually or in alliance in Delhi and 10 states, are meeting in Bengaluru to discuss strategy to take on the Narendra Modi-led NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Today, with the 'Cauvery row' in full flow, the DMK has managed to wrest the 'pan-Tamil initiative' for the Dravidian polity as a whole. What more, the DMK has also stolen much of the 'Tamil thunder' that had belonged to peripheral pan-Tamil groups over the Jallikattu protests in January 2017, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Arjunan claimed that some persons belonging to the DMK in the guise of public abused him and his mother.
In a state that usually plumbs for a Dravidian major, three candidates have a chance of delivering for the BJP, observes A Ganesh Nadar.
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.
'We have to change the Dravidian influence on the people.'
There were unconfirmed reports that the AIADMK would even parade the MLAs before the President.
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