The Delhi high court on Wednesday rejected the bail application of Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam Member of Parliament and former Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi.The court also rejected the bail application of Kalaignar TV Managing Director Sharad Kumar.The DMK MP had stated that she should be granted bail since she has a young son to look after and her husband lives abroad. She pointed out that she was the only woman who has been jailed for 2G scam.
Hours after he sprang a surprise on his state, party men and the nation by going on a sudden fast to highlight the Sri Lankan Tamils' cause, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi called off his fast equally suddenly.
One of the followers of jailed Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam member of Parliament Kanimozhi had a tough time in a Delhi court on Tuesday which first ordered his detention and then let him off with a stern warning for clicking the photograph of his leader inside the courtroom.
An emotional M Karunanidhi on Monday met his daughter and Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam member of Parliament Kanimozhi, arrested in the 2G spectrum case, at the Tihar jail in New Delhi and spent nearly 30 minutes with her. He also met former telecom minister A Raja and Kalaingar TV managing director Sharad Kumar, both arrested for their involvement in the scam.
A day after Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi stated that he viewed Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam supremo V Prabhakaran as a 'friend', Sri Lanka on Monday said that the Tamil Nadu chief minister was trying to exploit the issue for electoral gains. "Mr Karunanidhi is a Chanakya. He knows what to say and when -- not that he is not aware of Prabhakaran's attitude," Minister for Social Service Welfare Douglas Devananda said.
A Ganesh Nadar analyses the 12 reasons that made the DMK bite the dust in the state elections
In a sort of anti-climax, a special court on Saturday prolonged the suspense on the bail application of Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam member of Parliament Kanimozhi in the 2G spectrum case by deferring the pronouncement of its order till May 20.
Trinamool Congress-led alliance was on the cusp of a historic victory in West Bengal while Congress appeared set to capture Kerala and retain Assam but its ally Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam was facing rout in Tamil Nadu in the elections to state assemblies.
Thanks to an over-enthusiastic Murli Manohar Joshi, whose anti-Congress leanings became a little too obvious, the Congress with a little help from friendly parties has scuttled the report of the Public Accounts Committee on the 2G spectrum scam. This has made sure that it cannot be tabled in Parliament, even though it has been leaked through the media.
The Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam on Wednesday decided not to walk out of the United Progressive Alliance at the Centre over the 2G issue and decided to fight the case legally.
Amid fresh strains with its key ally Congress, the Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam will hold a crucial meeting in Chennai on Wednesday to plan its next course of action in the wake of the Central Bureau of Investigation naming Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi in the second chargesheet in the 2G spectrum scam.
The seven-year-old Congress- Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam alliance virtually ended on Saturday with the DMK ministers deciding to withdraw from the Union Cabinet.
Slamming the Election Commission for its 'hasty' announcement of schedule for the Tamil Nadu assembly elections, Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Thursday said the state had not been consulted about the dates and sought to know the rationale behind the poll panel's action. A day after the EC announced the schedule, the Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam chief said everybody expected the polls to be held either in the last week of April or in the first week of May.
Throwing its weight behind former telecom minister A Raja, the Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam on Thursday said his arrest does not prove his guilt in the 2G spectrum scam and accused opposition parties of targetting him to "malign" the party.
Pattali Makkal Katchi founder-leader Dr S Ramadoss on Monday said that his party has not taken a final decision about joining the Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam-Congress combine to fight the Tamil Nadu assembly poll. On Sunday, DMK chief and TN Chief Minister M Karunanidhi had told the media in Delhi that the PMK will fight the state polls with the DMK-Congress alliance. Many other political parties had also approached the PMK to forge a coalition.
Former telecom minister A Raja met Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam chief M Karaunanidhi in Chennai on Saturday, three-days after the Central Bureau of Investigation conducted raids at his residences in connection with the 2G scam. The outcome of the meeting held at Karaunanidhi's residence was, however, not known.
Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam, which had snapped ties with Pattali Makkal Katchi two months ago, on Sunday invited the S Ramadoss-led party back in the alliance, a move supported by senior Congress leader P Chidambaram.Karunanidhi, in an interview, said the Democratic Progressive Alliance in the state would have been stronger if the PMK continued in the alliance but stressed that the alliance had not been weakened due to its ouster.
The already strained relations between the Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam and the Left parties hit the nadir on Friday with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK supremo M Karunanidhi stating that Communist Party of India - Marxist leader N Varadharajan's remarks only showed that the Left parties had already decided to walk out of the DMK-led Democratic Progressive Alliance. Karunanidhi took a dig at the CPI-M state secretary on the latter's remarks that Congress was a 'sinking ship'
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Monday questioned the Centre's assertion before the Supreme Court that Lord Ram himself had destroyed the Ram Setu (Adam's bridge) and said it was a distortion of history."Nowhere in the Kamba Ramayan is it mentioned that Lord Ram destroyed the bridge. It is to appease Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam leader and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, whose party is a partner in UPA, that Centre is doing such things," VHP president Ashok Singhal said.
The strained relationship between the ruling Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam and its key ally Pattali Makkal Katchi on Friday reached a flashpoint with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi asserting that his party would take a decision whether to continue the relationship 'in five or six days'.Karunanidhi said that PMK leader and president of Vanniyar Sangam G Guru had spoken at a public meeting recently, threatening Union Minister A Raja and DMK MLA S Sivasankar.
Opposing the creamy layer concept, the Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam on Friday said that the Supreme Court judgment, which excludes economically well off Other Backward Classes from enjoying the benefit of 27 per cent reservation in higher education institutions, was not acceptable to it.It hailed the judgment, upholding the validity of 27 per cent reservation, as historic but said the judgment created a slight irritant.
Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi on Monday welcomed the idea of projecting Rahul Gandhi as the United Progressive Alliance's Prime Ministerial candidate in next year's Lok Sabha polls. On including the creamy layer of Other Backward Classes in 27 per cent reservation in institutions of higher learning, Karunanidhi said he had taken up the matter with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh.
Expressing concern over reports of increased LTTE activities in the state over the last two years, the Congress demanded the arrest of VCK leader Thol Tirumavalvan for his 'open support' to the banned outfit.
Ten members of the Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam, including a ward secretary, were arrested by the police on Monday in connection with Sunday's attack on the offices of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Hindu Munnani office.
Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi met his daughter Kanimozhi, who was arrested in connection with the 2G spectrum allocation case, in Delhi's Tihar Jail on Saturday. Karunanidhi, accompanied by his wife Rajathi Ammal and DMK leader T R Balu, drove into the Tihar premises in a car which entered through gate number 3 at around 4.45 pm. This is the third time Karunanidhi met his daughter since she was sent to Tihar prison on May 21.
Accusing the government of 'violating Parliamentary propriety', BJP leader Sushma Swaraj said the move to hike petrol and diesel prices "raises suspicion as to which companies will be benefited by this decision." "The government has been saying that the public sector oil companies have been making profits and giving dividends to it. Then why this secrecy," she asked. Swaraj attacked the Congress for 'betraying' the common people.
Cineyug Films Director Karim Morani, an accused in the 2G spectrum case, was on Monday arrested and taken into judicial custody after a Delhi court rejected his bail plea. Special Central Bureau of Investigation Judge O P Saini refused the plea of Morani who is charged with facilitating the transaction of Rs 200 crore from DB Realty to Kalaignar TV, in which Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam Member of Parliament Kanimozhi holds 20 per cent stake.
Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam member of Parliament Kanimozhi, named in the chargesheet in 2G spectrum case, has been actively involved in the day-to-day affairs of Kalaignar television channel, said one of the directors of the channel.
The Central Bureau of Investigation, which named Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi as an accused in the 2G case, did so keeping in mind her "active role" in the operations of Kalaignar TV and her "conduct" in the Radia tapes.
The war of words between the Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam and its estranged ally Pattali Makkal Katchi continued, with the latter accusing the ruling party of giving up the cause of Sri Lankan Tamils, whenever it came to power in the state. PMK founder S Ramadoss, in a statement, alleged that the DMK organised agitations on the issue when it was in the opposition and when it came to power, it gave up the issue.
The ruling Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam on Tuesday asked the Centre to work with Colombo to find a permanent solution to the ethnic problem by ensuring full devolution of powers and autonomy to north and eastern areas of the island within a timeframe. It asked the Sri Lankan government to extend full cooperation in this regard. The meeting, presided over by party president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, decided to mobilise public support for the DMK's stand.
Against the backdrop of hawkish demands and street protests, the Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam-led government on Friday lashed out at the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, for not responding to the two-day ceasefire by the Sri Lankan government in the northern areas, to enable the safe passage of ethnic Tamils caught in the conflict zone.DMK, which has been turning the heat on the Centre to talk to Colombo to stop innocent Tamils becoming victims in the crossfire.
Andimuthu Raja's love for poetry is believed to have got him close to Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam supremo M Karunanidhi for a blazing political career but the script went awry in a rare case of a former union minister having to undergo the ignominy of arrest consumed by the 2G Spectrum scam.
The issue of alliances in the coming assembly polls in five states including West Bengal and Tamil Nadu is ticklish for the Congress with the regional parties in both states playing the 'big brother'.
"In your long years of dedicated public service, you have contributed tremendously for the progress of the nation," Sonia said in a message to the veteran Tamil Nadu politician.
"Congress is the biggest party in the UPA. There is no question of NCP, Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam or Rashtriya Janata Dal or any other party coming close to their numbers and if tomorrow Congress decides to nominate Mrs Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi, it's not a question for NCP to decide," NCP General Secretary Praful Patel said.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna has said that the state would approach the Supreme Court on the Hogenakkal issue. The Congress leader added that he was not concerned whether the Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam will get upset or the ruling United Progressive Alliance coalition will get affected by the move.The central leadership of the party, however, had adopted a cautious approach on Friday, saying the state units of the party were free to decide their own stands.
Millions of mobile phone users would have wished Dayanidhi Maran stayed as telecom minister for at least a few more days as he was planning to abolish roaming charges on cell phones from June 3.
The Congress on Wednesday expressed its disapproval of the move by some Members of Parliament writing to United States President Barack Obama, seeking denial of visa to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, saying the "nation is bigger than politics".
Opposing the invitation extended to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief Vaiko on Friday met Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh and demanded that the party should 'avoid' the presence of Mahinda Rajapaksa at Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony.