Enraged over the repeated attacks on the party by his elder son and suspended leader M K Alagiri, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi on Tuesday expelled him from the party.
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Asserting that Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam had the capability to face the polls with its existing local allies, party president M Karunanidhi on Tuesday said there was no setback for his Democratic Progressive Alliance in the absence of a national party in the combine.
'The BJP will be the ruling party.'
"I have not lost my confidence (that DMDK would join the DMK-led front)," said Karunanidhi.
Launching his "Vetri Kodi Eandhi Tamizhagam Velvom" (Will Win Tamil Nadu Carrying the flag of victory) campaign from Suseendiram in this district, Shah said he was confident that a coalition government of the NDA will come to power in the state after the April 6 assembly polls.
The AIADMK bagged 134 seats as counting of votes was taken up for 232 of the 234 assembly constituencies. Polling in two constituencies has been postponed to May 23.
The MNM inked an agreement with actor-politician Sarathkumar's All India Samathuva Makhal Katchi and Indiya Jananayaka Katchi to jointly fight the polls.
Springing a surprise, Vijayakanth-led Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam on Wednesday struck an alliance with the four-party People's Welfare Front for the May 16 Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu with the actor-turned-politician being declared as the chief ministerial candidate of the alliance.
A bench comprising Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai said it has perused the judgments submitted and was of the view that the issue does not need consideration by a larger bench.
The governor has returned the bill, adopted by the state assembly in September 2021 and the report of a high level committee constituted by the Tamil Nadu government in this connection to the assembly Speaker M Appavu.
Nine people, including 3 couples were reconverted to Hinduism in Chennai
The AIADMK chief filed her nomination papers for June 27 bypoll to the Radhakrishnan Nagar assembly constituency.
The ruling alliance also has some smaller parties like Republican Party of India-Athawale, Asom Gana Parishad, Mizo National Front, National People's Party, Naga People's Front, Pattali Makkal Katchi and Bodoland People's Front, which have one seat each, totalling seven seats.
The Centre's move to celebrate Teachers' Day as 'Guru Utsav' and the planned interaction of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi with school children on that day have kicked up a controversy with opposition Congress and others, including Bharatiya Janata Party allies Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Pattali Makkal Katchi, slamming the government.
Southern Railway however clarified that the issue was the result of a particular user selecting Hindi as the preferred language while registering in the IRCTC website. 'Language is an option in e-ticketing,' a Southern Railway release said.
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.
Tamil nadu Chief Minister and All India Dravida Munetra Kazhagam supremo J Jayalalithaa on Monday sacked three ministers and six district heads in the backdrop of her party's defeat in three Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
The ruling All India Anna DMK bagged 37 out of the 39 seats in the state, with the Bharatiya Janata Party winning one seat and its alliance partner the Pattali Makkal Katchi winning one.
The ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is leading in a string of urban local bodies across Tamil Nadu as counting of votes began on Tuesday for the just concluded civic polls.
If the idea was to garner AIADMK votes with or without the three faction leaders after the party broke ties with the NDA, it may not work after all, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The chemical worth Rs 1.80 crore was seized from a Tamil Nadu-based importer in 2015, who had allegedly declared it as fertiliser grade although it was an explosive grade.
The BJP's parliamentary board, which held a meeting at 11, Ashoka Road, New Delhi, the headquarters of the Bharatiya Janata Party, had inconclusive deliberations about the alliance of the southern states on Friday.
The list of the 314 MPs, however, does not include Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, who is also a BJP MP, they said. The majority mark is 268.
Opposition parties in Tamil Nadu on Monday welcomed Karnataka government's decision to appeal against Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's acquittal in a wealth case, with DMK terming it as the "right" step by the ruling Congress party.
The announcement was made by AIADMK coordinator and deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam and Union Minister and senior BJP leader Piyush Goyal, party election in-charge for Tamil Nadu, who described it as a "mega alliance".
If proven guilty by judge Michael d'Cunha, Jayalalithaa and her aides -- Sasikakala Natrajan, Sudhakaran and Ilavarasi -- could face up to six years in jail.
With a significant number of Opposition leaders present at the swearing-in ceremony of the Congress government in Karnataka, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Sunday said Opposition unity requires much more than optics of this nature and stressed the need for meeting of minds, a common agenda and sacrificing partisan interests.
According to insiders, their lack of enthusiasm is showing on the ground. There is nothing to suggest that their enthusiasm will return in the final four phases of polling, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
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.
Rajini-Kamal duo cannot do harm to the AIADMK-led alliance in the state electorally, Jayakumar said.
Several Members of Parliament and Members of Legislative Assembly have declared cases in which they have been charged with inciting communal tension. The Association for Democratic Reforms in a report gives details of elected representatives with such charges.
Vijay has a lot of young and middle-aged women fans, but as voters, they are possibly now with the DMK, or remain with the AIADMK. Recapturing this constituency would have helped Vijay's political launch and the GOAT script and dialogues could have gone a long way in helping out. But the kind of script and screenplay and the unusually and equally unnecessary long run-time (3 hours, 3 minutes) that GOAT offers takes the film experience over the heads of those that are not familiar with secret agents and uranium theft in Tamil cinema, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Elections will also be held in 35 assembly constituencies in Odisha.
'The last four years was not Dravidian rule, it was BJP rule by proxy.'
Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday offered worship at the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara in the wee hours near Tirupati.
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam led by Vaiko on Monday decided to quit the National Democratic Alliance in Tamil Nadu alleging that the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Centre was acting against Tamils and betrayed the people of the state.
Two more infants, shifted from Dharmapuri Government Hospital to Salem, died on Wednesday pushing the toll of toddlers to 13, as the opposition parties called for a probe in the incident.
The BJP has nothing to lose after a point. For the DMK it is a difficult choice, as it would not want to give too much of space to a 'national party' lest the 'Dravidian duel' of the past decades should be lost forever, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The young woman's death has led to an outrage on illegal hoardings being put by political parties despite them causing inconvenience and posing a threat to people's safety.
The DMK's campaign appeared to be the most visible with propaganda at a feverish pace across the segment for the April 6 assembly polls and Stalin is the party's chief minister candidate.
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