With assembly elections only two years away, in 2016, the DMK may not have the luxury of time on its side. If the slow pace of reforms that the party has indulged itself in, in the past decade and more is any indicator, the committed 25 percent vote-share would either be frittered away, or lost, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Director Lakshman pitches love against money in Romeo Juliet and there are no prizes for guessing which one wins, writes S Saraswathi.
Truth be acknowledged, Rajinikanth is not known for wanting to leave his comfort zone to take the politico-electoral plunge, even if it meant his becoming the chief minister of a state that has conferred Tamil cinema's superstardom on him over the past 25 years. Today, his fans belong to the younger generation all right, but their numbers are far fewer than their counterparts in the '90s. They are not devoid of personal ambitions and agendas, unlike what Rajinikanh wants them to be, if he and they were to enter politics, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Freshly packed ladoos were distributed by exuberant party workers to everyone on the road, and even to commuters on the bus, auto and bikes.
'I admire Jayalalithaa. What drove her to do and achieve what she did?'
62 candidates vye for Amma's mantle in the Radhakrishnan Nagar assembly by-poll in Tamil Nadu, but who will fortune favour?
Cries of "Amma" rent the air as a sea of humanity thronged the Rajaji Hall grounds on Tuesday to pay their last respects to AIADMK supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, whose body lay in state in Chennai where normal life virtually came to a grinding halt.
Two successive Rajni flops could well mean that Tamil cinema might come to a grinding halt, affecting the careers of other big-ticket actors, banners and filmmakers, says N Sathiya Moorthy
More than the traditional Dravidian political rivalry that's now on display, it's boiling down to father-son one-upmanship within the DMK, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Of equal importance was the AIADMK's precarious assembly membership, what with 11 of its MLAs including deputy chief minister OPS facing court cases for disqualification and by-elections due in another 21. To shore up the party's numbers for anticipated eventuality on the 11-MLAs' front, the AIADMK leadership in general and chief minister EPS in particular, were even more focussed on assembly seats than LS seats, just now,' says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The Chinese have a set pattern. They demonstrate, warn, threaten, attack and withdraw.' 'We were lulled into complacency, but I am certain things are being corrected now.'
The prime minister pointed out that such infamous incidents occurred during the Congress rule.
If the people of Tamil Nadu stop deifying their leaders and start evaluating them more objectively, the political masters too may change their wayward behaviour, argues Sudhir Bisht.
Congress' chances of survival in the state do not look promising, says Aditi Phadnis
Saluting the late MS Viswanathan and his brilliant music.
The prime minister said the opposition's hatred against him was reaching new levels daily and they have a competition over who abused him the most.
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief J Jayalalithaa, who is eyeing a larger role for herself in the national politics after Lok Sabha polls, was on Monday presented a cake resembling Parliament by her party colleagues on her 66th birthday.
Deepa's brother Deepak was present in the house when she arrived.
As the Opposition leader in the state assembly, M K Stalin has to fend off the ruling AIADMK on the one hand and prevent the re-emergence of a non-Dravidian Opposition on the other -- but his immediate challenge comes from within, in the form of his wheelchair-bound octogenarian party leader and father M Karunanidhi, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Urimai Kural, part of the Gram Vaani community radio station that spans 15 states, serves as a much-needed helpline for harassed garment factory workers.
V P Duraisamy's exit will in no way upset the poll scene in western Tamil Nadu, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The truce, even if it is not permanence peace, will come under stress and test during the pending polls to rural local bodies in nine revenue districts and urban polls across the state, including those for 16 municipal corporations, starting with Chennai, the oldest and largest, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Now that an elected chief minister is at the helm, it is high time the Centre initiate discussions to appoint a full-time governor at the earliest, given that the state is set to face some challenging times, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'It would be interesting to see how Yogi Adityanath is received in Tamil Nadu, where he is due to end his Ram Rajya Rath Yatra in Rameswaram on March 23.'
The two rival factions of the AIADMK may have merged, but there are problems staring at it on all fronts -- governmental, political, electoral and organisational, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
For V K Sasikala, election as the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam legislature party leader to pave her way to become the chief minister, marks continuance of the legacy of late Jayalalithaa who also held the two posts, allowing her to wield complete control over the party and the government.
Trying to guess Subramanian Swamy's motives or next step has been a rather difficult exercise for decades, says Archis Mohan
If the already demoralised Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam cadre, beaten worse by the shocking parliamentary poll debacle in May 2014 thought that the political set-back suffered by rival All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa Jayaram, in the light of a Bangalore court ordering a jail-term for her in September was a boon for their leadership, it's not to be.
Considering that all sides to the game feel being targeted by the BJP-ruled Centre through taxmen and their ED/CBI counterparts, both factions may not rule out the possibility of patching up after a time, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'To them, the day may not be far off when the state BJP starts claiming and propagating that Modi is next only to AIADMK's late boss Jayalalithaa,' says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Chief Minister O Panneerselvam hugged Modi emotionally on a couple of occasions.
Taking a swipe at DMK president's statement that the party would take steps to implement prohibition if voted to power in the next elections, AIADMK said it was done with an eye on polls.
The OPS camp believes Sasikala's family still calls the shot in the EPS camp.
A day after the Tamil Nadu assembly speaker disqualified 18 MLAs from the AIADMK's V K Sasikala-T T V Dinakaran faction, Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar spoke to a couple of MLAs.
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.
The IT sleuths recovered 'incriminating' documents from the premises of Vijayabaskar and others, officials said.
Given the twin embarrassments of a TTV win and party nominee Karu Nagarajan losing his deposit, polling fewer votes than NOTA, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP boss Amit Shah would be pushed to rethink their strategy. Tamil Nadu would thus become a part of the BJP's grander strategy for 2019 rather than a stand-alone affair, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'He is 47 years old and not married. Since his son or daughter can contest for Parliament only 25 years after being born, the earliest, if he marries in December, would be 2043.' 'So this, pretty much, is the end of the road for dynastic rule in the party,' says T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
The Madras high court on Thursday expressed doubts over the death of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in response to a petition filed by a member of her party.
AIADMK supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Wednesday restructured the party's apex body.
