Two MDMK MLAs, T M Rajendran and R Senthil Selvan, have refused to resign from their Assembly seats despite demands from MDMK General Secretary Vaiko. They assert their status as DMK legislators, having won on the DMK's 'Rising Sun' symbol, and have pledged loyalty to DMK leadership, including M K Stalin and Udhayanidhi Stalin.
A major political controversy has erupted in Tamil Nadu as the TVK alleges the DMK attempted horse-trading to poach its MLAs, leading to arrests and an ongoing police investigation into the high-stakes political maneuvering.
Assembly by-elections in Madurantakam and Dharapuram will offer an early measure of the TVK's electoral strength and put the dynamics of its new alliance in focus.
Ruling TVK legislators are advocating for Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay as their Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2029 Lok Sabha polls, a move dismissed by the Congress party which insists on Rahul Gandhi as their choice. This internal conflict within the alliance highlights a growing divide over national political ambitions.
The DMDK officially joined the DMK-led alliance ahead of the upcoming Tamil Nadu assembly elections, marking a significant political development in the state.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay met with his predecessor, DMK President MK Stalin, at his residence in Alwarpet, Chennai, ahead of a crucial floor test for the government. The meeting, described as a courtesy call, occurred after Vijay's criticism of the previous DMK regime's debt burden.
Fresh political friction has erupted in Tamil Nadu following the cabinet swearing-in ceremony, where the Tamil Thai Valthu was once again played third during an official ceremony. This marks the third consecutive occasion where the Tamil anthem has been placed third in the protocol order, triggering fresh criticism and political reactions across the state regarding the government's failure to uphold regional ceremonial traditions.
Actor Vijay's newly formed party, TVK, has achieved a significant victory in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, securing a commanding vote share and disrupting the state's traditional bipolar political system.
One Rajya Sabha seat is a small price to pay for all the skills that Kamal Haasan brings to the table, points out Aditi Phadnis.
Actor Kamal Haasan launched Makkal Needhi Miam at a public meeting in Madurai in 2018.
If the DMK is able to sustain the momentum until the assembly polls, the AIADMK especially and the PMK and possibly the infant TVK too would find it hard to sign up with the BJP, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
In a first, BJP crossed the 10 per cent vote share-mark in Tamil Nadu and has so far registered a share of 10.21 per cent, though it could not emerge in lead positions anywhere.
'The Dravidian movement was started for the Hindus who were rejected by the upper castes.'
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam President M K Stalin will try his luck once again from Kolathur constituency in Chennai in the April 6 Tamil Nadu assembly elections while his son Udhayanidhi will make his electoral debut by contesting from the Chepauk-Triplicane segment in the metropolis.
Sri Lanka is facing 'a very serious crisis' that makes India naturally worried, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told an all-party meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday and dismissed suggestions about such a situation arising in India.
The DMK parliamentary party appears to be a house divided, reports R Rajagopalan.
Stalin described his party-led coalition as the "Secular Progressive Alliance."
Erode MP A Ganeshamurthi, who allegedly attempted suicide recently, died at a Coimbatore hospital on Thursday morning, sources from his party Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the police said.
After a high-level party meet in Chennai, Vaiko said his party has unanimously decided to support the DMK in the by-election.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam candidate Latha Athiaman is leading by more than 5000 votes over All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's Muthuramalingam after the first round of counting of votes in the bypoll to the Tirumangalam assembly constituency, for which elections were held on Janury 9.
Chief Minister Stalin seems to have drawn a line between his personal beliefs and those of others in the family, beginning with wife Durga Stalin, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
"How can you expect Vaiko to accept my appeal to continue in the DPA when he has not respected the statement of his own mother," Karunanidhi asked.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazagham on Monday named two party nominees for the Rajya Sabha election and announced that the third seat was being allotted to ally Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
A political realignment seems to be on the cards in Tamil Nadu, with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam reaching out to its former leader and Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam founder Vaiko.
DMK-led alliance captures Coimbatore, Tirupur
The 65-year-old Stalin's elevation comes about three weeks after the death of his father and party president M Karunanidhi.
What was the "locus standi" of Sonia Gandhi when she along with the then prime minister Manhoman Singh inaugurated legislative buildings in Manipur and Tamil Nadu, the Bharatiya Janata Party asked on Wednesday while countering the Congress's criticism over the inauguration of the new Parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Ending its decade long stint in the opposition, even relegated to the third spot in the House in 2011, the M K Stalin-led Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam made a spirited comeback to the ruling saddle to unseat its rival the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
With the DMK formalising its alliance with the Congress and the Indian Union Muslim League, and the AIADMK not allowing the BJP anywhere near it, if the DMDK too goes with the DMK then the only option left for the BJP is to explore going with the PMK. In that case it has to endorse Dr Ramadoss as its chief minister candidate, says R Ramasubramanian.
R Rajagopalan, who travelled through Tamil Nadu, says it will be an election of many firsts.
Thirty four people belonging to Kallakurichi district have died following consumption of 'methanol mixed arrack', Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin said on Thursday.
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.
The work on seat sharing with other allies will begin from Thursday, he told reporters.
The conference was seen by many as a show of strength by the Opposition with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav joining in to raise their voice against oppression of backward classes.
''He had given tools to fight all forms of homogenisation.'
The BJP state unit hailed Vasan and said his advice will be used in the coming days to guide the alliance.
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.
Having altered the political landscape of Tamil Nadu by firming up a pre-poll alliance with five parties of the state for the first time, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday welcomed the tacit support of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi's son M K Alagiri, saying it will help in formation of NDA government at the Centre.
The ruling DMK has already announced it will file a review petition against the November 8 five-judge Supreme Court bench upholding the 10 per cent reservation for the Economically Weaker Sections.
In the last five years, 480 candidates with declared cases related to hate speech have contested elections to state assemblies, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, the ADR said.
