Udhayanidhi, the 45-year old actor-producer is hailed as the "rising sun" by DMK workers, in obvious reference to the party's Rising Sun symbol.
"Since the central government had assisted in the treatment of Jayalalithaa, it has a responsibility to unravel the mystery surrounding her death... Therefore, using its authority, it should immediately order a CBI probe into the matter," he said.
"It is high time India traded dynasty for meritocracy. This would require fundamental reforms, from imposing legally mandated term limits to requiring meaningful internal party elections, together with a concerted effort to educate and empower the electorate to choose leaders based on merit," Tharoor said.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman criticizes the DMK government in Tamil Nadu, alleging corruption, caste-based crimes, and a rise in drug abuse. She dismisses the DMK's claims about language and Dravidian identity as a distraction from their governance failures.
Natarajan was admitted to the hospital on Saturday with severe chest infection and was put on ventilator support.
Stalin, 68, was contesting as the chief ministerial candidate for the first time during these polls. He was elected unopposed as the DMK chief in August 2018, after the death of his father, a post that Karunanidhi held for 49 years. That didn't come as a surprise to anyone, as during his lifetime, Karunanidhi, on multiple occasions made his preference for his successor abundantly clear and systematically groomed him for the job.
While Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has made his national ambitions amply clear, even rechristening his party to aid the process, his Tamil Nadu counterpart M K Stalin insists he is already in the national scene and used his birthday rally on March 1 to not only strongly pitch for the Congress as a force to reckon with in the efforts to dislodge the Narendra Modi-led dispensation at the Centre, but also sought to shoot down the prospects of a Third Front.
After a high-level party meet in Chennai, Vaiko said his party has unanimously decided to support the DMK in the by-election.
He asked if DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, "who speaks of Tamil culture, such a serious allegation has been made--will DMK snap ties with Congress, for Tamil pride and the Tamil people."
The DMK government in Tamil Nadu has sparked controversy by replacing the Indian Rupee symbol with a Tamil letter in the logo for its 2025-26 budget. The move has drawn criticism from the state BJP, which accused the ruling party of being "stupid." The development comes amidst the ongoing language row between the Centre and Tamil Nadu, with the latter alleging Hindi imposition by the Union government.
BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde sought to draw a parallel between Karnataka's handling of Neha Hiremath's killing to the way West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee allegedly shielded the Sandeshkhali case accused Shajahan Sheikh.
Rajiv Gandhi assassination case convict A G Perarivalan on Wednesday celebrated the Supreme Court verdict directing his release by playing the Tamil percussion instrument 'Parai' and now wants to breathe the air of freedom before thinking about his future, as the apex court ruling put an end to his three-decade prison term.
The PM name is to be decided only after the Lok Sabha results, a top opposition leader said.
Sibling rivalry between Stalin and his elder brother M K Alagiri came to the fore recently, when the latter claimed that true loyalists of Karunanidhi were with him.
The 94-year-old leader is currently being treated for fever due to urinary tract infection with intravenous antibiotics and fluids.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday warned the Bharatiya Janata Party not to 'provoke' the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, saying it will not be able to 'bear the consequences' and that his party also knows 'all types of politics', escalating his attack on the saffron party after the arrest of his cabinet colleague V Senthil Balaji.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday said he has requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide additional doses of COVID-19 vaccine to the state.
The opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) is unlikely to contest the Lok Sabha Speaker's post and the National Democratic Alliance nominee is likely to be elected unopposed, sources said Tuesday ahead of filing of nomination for the key post.
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 resolution, piloted by Chief Minister M K Stalin, contended that the recommendation submitted to the President on September 9, are against the state languages including Tamil and also against the interest of the people who speak those languages.
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 workers, who cleaned the statue, demanded the arrest of the culprits and warned that they would intensify their agitation if such incidents recurred, police said.
Balaji was arrested on June 14 last year by the ED in connection with a money laundering case linked to an alleged cash-for-jobs scam when he was the transport minister in an earlier AIADMK government.
Alagiri said he was doing all this to "save" the DMK following the demise of Karunanidhi.
TVK cadres are worried, the leadership looks weak, and the party is not fully prepared for the 2026 elections, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Arun took over as police chief and vowed to bring rowdies to their knees and said rowdy elements would be taught 'in the language they understand.'
In more than one way, it's a setback for the DMK and Chief Minister Stalin in political terms. The electoral fall-out, if any, will have to wait until the next summer, only when assembly elections are due in the state, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
"Stalin is the future of the party," said late Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam patriarch M Karunanidhi about six years ago at a party meet when his son was party treasurer.
"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.
Karunanidhi, 94, died at the Kauvery hospital on Tuesday following prolonged illness.
We did not take part in the meeting since our chief was accused of violating coalition dharma, DMK said.
Terming Saturday as a "black day" for democracy, the senior DMK leader urged all those who wanted to "remove" the "anti- democratic" All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government to join him.
'The Dravidian movement was started for the Hindus who were rejected by the upper castes.'
A political realignment seems to be on the cards in Tamil Nadu, with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam reaching out to its former leader and Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam founder Vaiko.
Sonia Gandhi hit out at the BJP for being determined to destroy constitutional values.
While Rahul Gandhi led Congress has a pan Indian presence, Naidu described regional leaders, including himself, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Stalin and Deve Gowda as strong leaders in their respective states, who are coming together against the BJP.
The searches over suspected tax evasion began in the morning and it covered multiple premises connected to a prominent leader of the main opposition DMK, based in Tamil Nadu's Tiruvannamalai district.
Harping on putting up a united front, the Congress alleged that democracy is being "mercilessly murdered" and MPs who raise people's issues are suspended from the House.
The 70-year old first time MP, who was admitted to the Apollo Hospitals on August 10 after he tested positive for coronavirus, succumbed to the illness, a party spokesperson said.
The likes of Sengottaiyan can help Vijay navigate it better and faster -- but not necessarily to his goal, which is farther, and can move towards or away from him as well in the weeks and months to come, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
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