The Bharatiya Janata Party suffered stunning losses in three Hindi heartland states, partial poll results showed Tuesday, forcing the party to rely on allies to form the government after a bitter and divisive election that was projected as a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity.
Raja said though the icon of the Dravidian movement, Thanthai Periyar stood for an independent Tamil Nadu, the DMK moved away from it.
A chance meeting between Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Union minister Kiren Rijiju at the Tulip Garden in Srinagar has sparked a political storm, with opposition parties accusing the National Conference of laying out a red carpet for the BJP leader in the aftermath of the Waqf Amendment Act. While NC sources termed the interaction as a purely coincidental encounter, opposition parties like the PDP and Peoples' Conference condemned the meeting, accusing the NC of surrendering to the BJP. The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, passed by Parliament last week, aims to streamline the management of Waqf properties with provisions to safeguard heritage sites and promote social welfare.
Hailing the Bharatiya Janata Party's Delhi assembly polls victory as 'historic', Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a stinging attack on the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress, saying the country needs a serious political transformation and not politics of 'dhoort-ta (deceit) and moorkhta (foolishness)'.
Stoutly defending Sanatan Dharma, Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai on Thursday dubbed the ruling DMK a casteist party that must be decimated, and questioned its track record on Dalit empowerment.
The BJP is focusing determinedly on the seats it lost in 2019, with the hope of winning these either independently or with the aid of its allies.
'Sometimes we use political pressure and sometimes political acumen to get what we want.'
Speaker Awadh Bihari Chaudhary took a grim note of the unruly behaviour of some of the BJP MLAs who had entered the well and placed chairs on the table of the reporting staff.
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 Tamil Nadu BJP took a jibe at Chief Minister and DMK leader M K Stalin on Friday by extending birthday wishes in Mandarin amid the ongoing 'Chinese flag' newspaper advertisement controversy.
For a party that has adopted the successful social re-engineering model from Gujarat, Rajasthan and across the rest of the 'Hindi belt' over the past decades, Tamil Nadu continues to remain a tricky customer, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The Dravidian movement was started for the Hindus who were rejected by the upper castes.'
If Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai bought it in 2015, did he get prior approval from the Union home ministry, and did he include it in his annual wealth returns, sections of the media want to know. N Sathiya Moorthy on the curious case of the 'Rafale' watch.
The BJP would need to contest more seats than it did in 2014 and 2019.
After Chief Minister Stalin moved a resolution, even as Ravi was speaking, that the speech was read, the governor walked out of the assembly.
Reacting to the results, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that in the by-elections held on 13 seats in seven states, the people of the country have given their support to the INDIA bloc.
Creating a positive reform that does away with an official who constitutes a flawed aspect of Indian democracy will allow the BJP to rightfully claim this as one of its positive legacies, suggests Karan P Shah.
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.
'They have not mentioned the word minorities. They say scholarships will be given to marginalised communities'
Will Annamalai's attacks on the DMK revert the anti-BJP feeling in Tamil Nadu, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
'We are not worried about raids. We have nothing to hide.'
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Tuesday said the state now is not in a position to release Cauvery river water to neighbouring Tamil Nadu, due to lack of rains in the river basin region.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Tuesday poised to form the government for a third consecutive term with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance getting a majority in the Lok Sabha, notwithstanding crushing losses in three Hindi heartland states after a bitterly fought election that was projected as a referendum on his popularity.
The lack of clarity on who is next in line, when the time comes, as indeed it will one day some day, reflects poorly on the management of the world's largest political party. It scarcely need be said that a squabble between the contenders, Shah and Yogi, is exactly what the doctor ordered for the Opposition, notes Krishna Prasad.
Tamil Nadu's Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin has reacted to Andhra Pradesh counterpart Pawan Kalyan's out-of-turn taunts with a one-liner, 'Let's wait', and thereby hangs a tale, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Suresh Gopi registered a historic win for the Bharatiya Janata Party in Kerala by winning the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat
Barring a few, such as Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu (74), Union Minister C R Patil (69) and Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Suresh Khanna (71), most other ministers attending the WEF represent the next generation of India's politicians.
The TDP and JD-U will have a lot to answer inside Parliament, day after day, session after session, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The BJP think they are running an ideology machine in this country, and they have to convert everyone, from people to parties to party leaders.'
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Saturday said it has arrested Jaffer Sadiq, a Tamil Nadu-based alleged dealer of narcotics, in connection with an international drugs trafficking investigation case.
He was expected to report for duty on February 10, according to Rama Nandagopal, president of Krishnagiri district BJP ex-servicemen wing.
Had someone done a deliberate mischief, security officials would file FIR and deboard the passenger.
According to CITU, around 90% of the 1,723 workers of the Sriperumbudur plant are participating in the strike. Samsung said it is ready to talk to employees and not a third party like CITU.
'Women' as a political constituency appears to be an idea that has come of age. It is changing India in ways that we only dimly understand, asserts Aditi Phadnis.
The Election Commission of India has announced that the Delhi Assembly elections will be held on February 5, 2023, with the counting of votes scheduled for February 8. The last date to file nominations is January 17, and the scrutiny of nominations will be done by January 18. Candidates can withdraw their nominations until January 20.
'Tamil Nadu presents a challenge to the BJP and its politics.' 'DMK is making all efforts to resist the BJP.'
When the Bharatiya Janata Party's Mukesh Dalal was declared elected unopposed to the Lok Sabha from Surat on Monday, he became the first candidate to achieve the feat from Gujarat since its formation 64 years ago though the erstwhile state of Saurashtra saw a similar instance in 1951.
'This is the real purpose behind the arrest, and it is not about controlling corruption.' 'It is like taking Amit Shah into custody before the 2024 elections.' 'How will it affect the BJP's election machinery?'
BJP veterans whom K Annamalai has reportedly sidelined are upset over his 'immature' way of handling allies, reveals N Sathiya Moorthy.
An advocate was brutally attacked by a man in front of the court complex in Hosur, Tamil Nadu, on Wednesday, triggering protests by the members of the Bar in the district demanding protection to colleagues at their workplace. The assailant, identified as Ananda Kumar, inflicted grievous cut injuries with a matchet, allegedly due to previous enmity with the victim. The incident sparked a political outrage in the state with various parties criticizing the state government's law and order situation.
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