The Tamil chief minister suffered a heart attack on Sunday evening.
The power struggle in Tamil Nadu's main opposition party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, appears set to go on for a long time with sidelined leader O Panneerselvam (OPS) approaching the Election Commission and the influential Edappadi K Palaniswami camp refusing to budge.
Even as the grand old party seeks to promote opposition unity ahead of the hustings next year, Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, however, would be conspicuous by her absence at the event at Sree Kanteerava Stadium.
Mody, the returning officer for the presidential election, said 115 nomination papers of 94 persons were received till Wednesday, of which 107 were rejected for not meeting the required criteria.
Overall, the Thalaivi trailer is a convincing experience, says veteran Tamil Nadu politics watcher N Sathiya Moorthy.
The tourism industry expects a short-term impact, as it is counting on the state's proven expertise in managing such crises.
There are 64 vacancies in the legislative assemblies of various states and one in Lok Sabha.
The fight would become more interesting as both candidates hail from Bihar, where the assembly elections are to be held soon, making it effectively a JD-U versus RJD contest.
However, the list was silent on allocation of seats to the newly-formed Tamizhaga Indira Congress floated by expelled Congress leader Tindivanam K Ramamurthee.
'For the outside world, Jayalalithaa is portrayed as the leader. In fact, the party operations are controlled by another person,' says Mylapore MLA S Ve Shekher who was recently expelled from the AIADMK.
Unlike the regimes of Jayalalitha, Palaniswami and Karunanidhi, ministers are actually getting to make decisions on their own, with the unmentioned rider that they would be held responsible and accountable, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
RS member Derek O'Brien said due to the polls, MPs of his party would not be able to attend the Parliament session.
Addressing the valedictory session of the BJP's national executive, Modi stressed that the BJP runs on the values of 'Sewa, Sanklap aur Samparan (service, resolution and commitment)' and 'does not revolve around a family', urging its members to work for people, Union Minister Bhupender Yadav said quoting the prime minister.
'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.
It's election season in Tamil Nadu and all political parties are tying themselves in knots over the banned jallikattu but none more than the BJP, says R Ramasubramanian.
After Rahul's Bharat Jodo Yatra began criss-crossing the Hindi heartland, BJP leaders have revived their attacks on 'dynasty politics' and 'family rule' in the Congress, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
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According to an internal assessment of the food ministry, shared with chief ministers recently, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh will see a massive reduction in their annual grain allocation.
By comparing I.N.D.IA. with banned terror outfits, Modi has exhibited the kind of nervousness never ever associated with him even at the height of the Gujarat riots, and certainly since his prime ministerial days, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
At least 12 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) reached West Bengal on Saturday morning as the state prepares to go to elections, officials said.
The Election Commission (EC) must have the power to deregister a political party in case of a violation of the mandatory conditions for registration and for breach of laws, the Supreme Court was told by a petitioner on Monday.
Nearly 4,800 elected MPs and MLAs will vote on Monday to elect the 15th President of India, with National Democratic Alliance candidate Droupadi Murmu having a clear edge over Opposition's Yashwant Sinha as over 60 per cent votes are expected to be cast in her favour.
While Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa told the state assembly that he would convene an all-party meet in Karnataka on the Hogenakkal issue, Minister for Energy K S Eswarappa, replying to a Congress member, said the project was "illegal."
Monday was the fourth consecutive day, proceedings were washed out over the Rafale jet deal and Cauvery issues.
AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam is said to be upset at his son Raveendranath Kumar, a Lok Sabha MP, being denied a ministerial chance for a second time in a row, beginning with the formation of Modi 2.0 in 2019, reveals N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Tamil Nadu Government on Monday announced that yoga would be made a compulsory subject in all schools in the state from the next academic year. School Education Minister Thangam Thennarasu, while replying to a question by Congress member S Sekar in the Assembly, said efforts were already underway for this purpose.
One of the leading political analysts in Tamil Nadu, Gnani Shankaran speaks to Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com from Trichy on the Jayalalithaa verdict.
A video of protesters purportedly raising 'Pakistan Zindabad' slogans during an agitation held in Pune by the Popular Front of India (PFI) has surfaced on social media, prompting some BJP leaders in Maharashtra to demand strong action against the slogan shouters.
Distribution of sweets, welfare assistance and blood donation by party workers were among the highlights of celebrations of the 93rd birthday of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam patriarch M Karunanidhi on Friday.
It said that Congress' strategy to pursue 'fringe and disruptive politics' in Parliament was only for political reasons and opposition to the development agenda of the BJP government, which has been rejected by the people in the four large states of Assam, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Kerala.
Karunanidhi had expelled Azhagiri and his supporters from the party in 2014 at the height of his fight with his younger brother M K Stalin over establishing supremacy in Tamil Nadu's main opposition party.
With Vijayakanth rebuffing both the DMK and the BJP Tamil Nadu will witness a six-cornered fight, which can only benefit Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, says R Ramasubramanian.
The final list of party candidates will be announced on April 1.
They enrolled themselves as members of the AIADMK.
It remains to be seen whether the Governor goes by the AG's advice for a floor test by the two competing claimants for chief ministership or invites Palanisami to form the government.
Stalin's sister and Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi will for the first time try her luck in the Lok Sabha.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera tweeted, "Shayad meri tapasya mein kuch kami reh gayi (Maybe my penance fell short)."
The state government had announced relief of Rs 7 lakh to her family.
A Ganesh Nadar finds out if the 2G scam will play an important role during the assembly poll among the rural voters of Tamil Nadu.
'I have many times bought meals for the accused, and the police pay for it.'
Employment guarantee for youths should be incorporated in the Constitution, she said. CPI member K R Ramasamy said judiciary was exceeding its limits and giving verdicts beyond its purview and the Constitution itself.
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