That's a deficit the NDA will have to make up with the help of 'friendly' alliance partners, the very groupings the PM has said are 'family-run'.
Distribution of sweets, welfare assistance and blood donation by party workers were among the highlights of celebrations of the 93rd birthday of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam patriarch M Karunanidhi on Friday.
Despite drawing a blank in Tamil Nadu, its leaders in the state claimed they should strike roots without using a crutch at this "most opportune" time, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
One more ruling Congress legislator A John Kumar, a close confidant of Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, resigned his MLA post on Tuesday, in yet another jolt to the ruling Congress dispensation ahead of the assembly polls due in few months.
At 70, going by hospital records made public, most age and health-related arguments put out against super-star Rajinikanth's entry into politics, before he withdrew citing a 2016 kidney-transplant, hold good for Sasikala, too, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The BJP has accused the government of attempting to destroy evidence of the existence of ancient 'Ram Setu' (bridge) linking India and Sri Lanka through the Sethusamudram ship channel alignment.
The impact of the national test among aspirants, people and several sections of society has been dealt with and the report is completely based on data and not on personal opinions, the panel head said.
'Behind the BJP's anti-Congress crusade is an attempt to divert attention from the Ladakh standoff,' explains Amulya Ganguli.
The Supreme Court on Monday granted four more months to the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission's (TNSEC) for concluding the poll process for the urban local bodies' elections in the state.
Contest on their own and get washed out, as happened in the 2016 assembly elections? Or contest in league with one of the Dravidian majors and get submerged under its election symbol? With elections looming, minor political parties in Tamil Nadu are caught in this dilemma, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Sandhya Ravishankar describes the thorny relationship between the two political titans of Tamil Nadu, M Karunanidhi and J Jayalalithaa, both now part of the ages.
Is Stalin positioning himself as a central figure in the anti-Bharatiya Janata Party, anti-Narendra Modi formation?
His career as a bureaucrat has been somewhat colourless, which suggests his current elevation is simply a matter of being at the right place at the right time.
"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.
'Don't try to impose anything on us.'
The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Friday passed a bill providing internal reservation of 10.5 per cent for Vanniyars, a most backward community in government jobs and in admission to educational institutions.
Aditi Phadnis predicts frequent stand-offs between the Centre and states in the future.
The video recording of the House proceedings on February 18 must be from the commencement till the end, the court said.
According to BJP insiders, every Union minister has been given 3-4 seats to mentor and has been told to work hard on these constituencies in the next 20 months to ensure the party's victory.
The Tamil Nadu Toddy Movement had met both Chief Minister Palaniswami and Stalin to seek their intervention in lifting the ban on toddy-tapping and had submitted petitions, but there it remained. So the matter is being taken to the people's court.
Sasikala said that she was looking for an "explanation" why Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao refused to give her an audience despite many requests.
Sonia Gandhi hit out at the BJP for being determined to destroy constitutional values.
The real battle for NEET abolition can take much more time and energy, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Kanimozhi told reporters that the Palaniswami-led government has become 'bloodthirsty' and the chief minister should be held responsible for the incident.
The BJP will be the obvious gainer while the DMK will lose a major chunk of its vote bank.
On the 45th year of the imposition of Emergency in the country, Shah claimed leaders are feeling suffocated in the Congress and the party's disconnect with people keeps widening.
A senior political commentator has said that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha is the modern 'Mahishasur Mardini' who has taken birth to trounce the Congress in Tamil Nadu.
Neither Thiruvalluvar nor me will get trapped, Rajini said with a big laugh.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the release of A G Perarivalan, who has served over 30 years of life term in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
Farmers and opposition parties in Tamil Nadu on Monday staged rail roko agitation at various places in the state demanding the Centre to constitute the Cauvery Management Board immediately.
Will the AIADMK acknowledge the role of CAA and the anti-CAA protests, both inside the state and outside, as among the causes for the current electoral reversal, as many in the party now want? It is unlikely to be so, but then the pressure will increase on the leadership to reassess the BJP alliance at one level and the 'blind support' for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's controversial policies on the other, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Sources within the party claimed the main charge against Elangovan was the unsatisfactory performance of the party in the recent assembly polls.
We (the AIADMK government) are going to implement the programmes initiated by Amma (Jayalalithaa) in our remaining term of four-and-a-half-years. "Now a stable government is in place in the state. You will see a new era of development to realise the dreams of Amma under the guidance of Chinnamma (Sasikala)," he said.
Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin does not face any threat to his full-fledged succession as DMK chief, just now. If he were to face any threat, it would only be against 'non-performance' as the party boss, N Sathiya Moorthy.
The legislators moved out of the resort as it was already booked for the weekend, sources said.
While the opposition members protested the interruption by Thakur, the BJP members persuaded her to sit down. After which, the Speaker said only A Raja's statement will be taken on record.
In an age when the electorate is increasingly impatient and changes governments every 5 years, how did the Tamil Nadu chief minister beat anti-incumbency?
The fracas between Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam on Monday over who will be projected as the CM candidate in next year's assembly polls not only points to a possibility of another vertical split in Tamil Nadu's ruling party but will also come as sweet music for the opposition DMK which in the past stood to gain from the AIADMK's squabbles, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission (TNSEC) to conduct by September 15 the local body polls in nine new districts carved out of four existing ones.
With DMK's M K Stalin coming into his own, and the rival AIADMK too leaving no space for third parties, Tamil Nadu will remain a Dravidian stronghold for a long time, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
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