In a one-horse race, ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam led by Jayalalithaa on Friday inflicted a crushing defeat on its arch-rival DMK, Congress and BJP-led six-party alliance, winning 4 seats and establishing unassailable leads in 33 out of the 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu.
'It is not going to be a fight between the AIADMK and the DMK; that fight is over.' 'The fight is going to be between the BJP's attempt to finish the Dravidian era and the DMK and the others trying to prevent the BJP from doing so.'
The BJP state unit hailed Vasan and said his advice will be used in the coming days to guide the alliance.
The DMK chief said it was a 'resounding victory' given to his party led alliance by the people of Tamil Nadu.
In focus are the assembly polls in 2026. From a BJP perspective, their attack on the ruling DMK, using the 'Hindutva' card, and Annamalai's targeting of both Dravidian majors on corruption has not worked, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
About 140 people out of 193 who were admitted to various government medical facilities after they consumed the spurious liquor on Tuesday night were currently stable, Kallakurichi district collector M S Prasanth said.
With the acquittal of arch rival All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief Jayalalithaa coming as a reversal for it, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam top brass on Monday went into a huddle to work on a political and legal strategy following the development.
Congress candidate Elangovan secured 1,10,156 votes (64.58 per cent), which is 20.29 per cent more than the 2021 assembly election as the then INC candidate secured 66,300 votes and won the seat.
The 65-year-old leader's ascent as the DMK chief heralds a new era in the Dravidian party, making him only the second man after his father to be elected as party president.
The results will be announced on May 2.
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 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.
It was decided by Tamil Nadu Congress to push for at least 45 seats and in a worst case scenario climb down a few seats and conclude the deal and it has worked out as was expected.
Union Minister Smriti Irani on Friday described the Congress-Dravida Munetra Kazhagam alliance for the May 16 Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu as an "unholy" one while bringing up the 2G spectrum allocation scam.
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.
Making clear its stand over the United Progressive Alliance's ambitious Food Security Bill, the Dravida Munetra Kazhagam on Sunday said it would support it only if it incorporated all the important amendments sought by various political parties and not in its present form.
However, the tilting factor still remains: Can the rivalling 'Modi brand' of 'soft Hindutva' and 'hard-sell nationalism' garner more votes for the NDA in Tamil Nadu, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
The House had to be adjourned twice in the afternoon amid din over the issue and finally for the day, minutes after it reassembled at 3 pm.
Thursday's Opposition-sponsored bandh did not bring Tamil Nadu to a standstill.
The never-before performance, a clean sweep by the Chief Minister Jayalalithaa-headed party coming on a day when she completed three years in office, decimated her opponents, particularly arch-rival DMK, and put her in the driver's seat for the assembly polls due exactly two years from now
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Monday alleged that use of money, muscle power and misuse of official machinery by the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam were responsible for the party's worst-ever performance in the recent Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu, where it drew a blank.
'We have to change the Dravidian influence on the people.'
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.
Words and actions like those of R N Ravi and a vocal section of the state BJP have only added to Tamil fears and suspicions, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
A day after Election Commission announced bypoll for the RK Nagar assembly constituency from where chief minister and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam supremo Jayalalithaa is likely to contest, DMK chief Karunanidhi on Wednesday said his party has decided not to contest the by-election.
Bharatiya Janata Party's southern ally Al India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Wednesday reiterated its stand against the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code.
The travails due to enforcement of the eligibility test was because the AIADMK regime under K Palaniswami allowed the test to be conducted, despite DMK's efforts to keep it at bay, he said
The action by the Commission, which wanted the explanation from the DMK president by Tuesday evening, came on a complaint from the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's Information Technology wing. Tamil Nadu goes to polls on Monday.
AIADMK insiders see the very idea of an NDA conclave as a measure of the BJP's current electoral assessment, stemming from relative weakness in 2024 compared to 2014 and 2019. In their reckoning, the BJP now needs allies more than the other way round, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Tamil Nadu Bishops Council's decision to support the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-Congress alliance in the upcoming elections will vitiate the political atmosphere in the state, reports R Ramasubramanian.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam President M Karunanidhi and other senior leaders prevailed over party Treasurer M K Stalin to reconsider his decision to quit party posts owning moral responsibility for its rout in Lok Sabha elections, with his brother and Madurai-based expelled leader M K Alagiri describing it as a "drama."
Forty-two of the 102 Lok Sabha seats going to polls in the general election's first phase are constituencies that have three or more candidates facing criminal cases, according to a poll rights body.
The single-phase polling for 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu on Thursday will test the capabilities of ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, its rival, the Dravidra Munnetra Kazhagam and the Bharatiya Janata Party, who hopes to ride on the Modi wave after drawing a blank in the previous two polls.
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Monday questioned Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party chief K Annamalai's intention to criticise the party despite being in the alliance, and said it will be forced to rethink its ties with the saffron party if Annamalai is not restrained.
Close to half of the total 543 Lok Sabha seats are bracing for multi-cornered fight this time, making the contest way more interesting and intense than it was in the 2019 elections.
The DMK leadership may now have to deal with a demand for more seats from its Congress ally in the Lok Sabha polls, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
'We are not worried about raids. We have nothing to hide.'
DMK working president and Opposition Leader MK Stalin, who pressed the Centre to immediately promulgate an ordinance to hold the sport and that AIADMK should also press Centre for it, said that "Tamils will not forgive" the two if such an urgent step was not taken.
Mamata Banerjee fended off a spirited challenge by a resurgent Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal with a landslide victory for her Trinamool Congress on Sunday for a third consecutive term and the saffron party and the Left Democratic Front were poised to form government again in Assam and Kerala respectively while the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam stormed back to power in Tamil Nadu after a gap of 10 years.
Eight Union ministers, two former chief ministers and one ex-governor are among those who are set to test their electoral fate in the first phase of elections on April 19 when 102 seats across 21 states and Union territories will go to polls.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances