The lingering political drama in Tamil Nadu may see a denouement soon with Attorney General on Monday advising Governor C Vidyasar Rao to convene the assembly within in a week for a floor test to decide the fate of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam rivals O Panneerselvam and V K Sasikala.
Party said the Opposition demand is a part of a 'planned campaign' against Sasikala.
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.
BJP President Amit Shah has authorised Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu to liaise with M Thambidurai and TTV Dinakaran from the Sasikala camp, just in case it turns against the BJP after the income tax raids on its health minister C Vijayabaskar.
Panneerselvam's remark came a day after the two factions were squabbling and blaming each other for the delay in the talks getting off the ground.
Today, as Jayalalithaa's friend, advisor and 'sister' Sasikala is also lodged in Bangalore Central jail, the former Tamil Nadu chief minister is where she was before: alone, all alone
With the unanticipated floods across Tamil Nadu catching the unprepared administration unawares, Stalin finds that some of the early positives that had rubbed on his initiatives have been lost, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The BJP has been pushing the two AIADMK groups to merge and then get the Sasikala clan out of the party and government.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said that the vow taken by AIADMK General Secretary V K Sasikala has been fulfilled.
The Hindutva social media continues to present the DMK especially as anti-god, anti-Hindu and anti-Brahmin. The strategy did not work in the past, it has not worked in the present, and would not work in the future, as a massive vote-getter, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
As leaders go, while Modi's visits to the state will be watched with curiosity, Rahul will need to be dislodged from the popular consciousness -- Tamil Nadu is one state where he's present, notes Aditi Phadnis.
'One thing is clear from what happened last night; both sides are being manipulated by the same party with a lot of wrong inputs.' 'I see a hand in Delhi doing the puppet act on both sides.'
Factionalism between OP Panneerselvam and Edappadi Palaniswami, the dominance of the BJP, the ruling DMK having a strong face in the form of CM Stalin, 'community and region-based politics', corruption charges against former ministers, and lack of a proper ideology are the major challenges the party is facing in the state.
Pandian alleged that Jaya died under unnatural circumstances and demanded a probe on her hospitalisation.
Jayalalithaa said that M Sasikala Pushpa was being expelled from all party posts, including primary membership, as she had acted in violation of the party principles and ethics.
In signs of thaw on All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam merger move, the factions led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami and the one by O Panneerselvam on Friday announced formation of their respective committees to hold discussions.
Tamil Nadu minister Sellur K Raju said the death of Amma was a huge loss.
Deepa's brother Deepak was present in the house when she arrived.
Former Chief Minister Panneerselvam could muster only 11 votes, ending the prolonged stalemate triggered by his rebellion.
'It is not a merger. It is a commercial agreement reached for self-interest,' he said.
AIADMK had decided to 'de-link' V K Sasikala and Dinakaran from the party.
Palaniswami is the third AIADMK leader to be sworn-in as the chief minister in the last nine months.
Panneerselvam said Sasikala is only a 'temporary general secretary' and proper elections have to be held to elect new party chief.
Though another 75 candidates are in the fray, the Elangovan-Thennaruasu fight has become a prestige battle for the DMK and AIADMK, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Officials said the 36-year-old actor was examined for four hours in Delhi as a witness in the case and her statement was recorded under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's Sasikala faction on Thursday said the presence of two leaves symbol, frozen by the Election Commission ahead of the April 12 RK Nagar assembly byelection, on its website was 'unnoticed' and would be removed.
On Tuesday night, the Tamil Nadu chief minister decides that enough is enough, and throws a challenge to Chinnamma.
He said his faction will formally file a petition with the Election Commission of India on Friday.
"It has been learnt that Sukesh had struck a deal for Rs 50 crore for helping the AIADMK faction keep the 'two leaves' symbol. Police have recovered Rs 1.30 crore from Sukesh and two cars -- a BMW and a Mercedes -- have also been seized," said a senior police officer.
'Both are mature enough to realise that a break will not benefit either of them and both will be losers'
The AIADMK MP from Thoothukudi explains why he is backing O Panneerselvam as Tamil Nadu chief minister.
The sidelined leader's victory is being seen as a worrying development both for AIADMK and principal opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which finished third behind the ruling party.
The AIADMK leader, however, told cops he believed that the arrested middleman -- Sukesh Chandrasekhar -- was a high court judge.
'He can install OPS as chief minister and ask him to do the floor test later.'
OPS is just now friendless in the party's second-line, but the situation could change as and when Governor Rao arrives in the state capital, and sets the constitutional ball rolling, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
As many as 18 firms were formed in the 1991-96 period only with a view to siphoning off the "unlawful resources" accumulated by then chief minister Jayalalithaa, the special court in the disproportionate assets case against her and 3 others has held.
The infighting in the AIADMK has made it weak on par with the DMK and other parties, says R Rajagopalan.
'The alliance led by the DMK is starting with 15% votes while the AIADMK is starting from scratch.' 'Minority votes may be crucial'
"To protect AIADMK, everybody should join hands with OPS (Panneerselvam)," Madusudanan said, adding that he did not want the party to get into the hands of a single family.
