Stalin, along with cadres of the DMK and other parties, came in a procession in Tiruvarur and was detained in a marriage hall, police said, adding they will be let off later.
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.
R Rajagopalan, who travelled through Tamil Nadu, says it will be an election of many firsts.
The Congress-led government in Puducherry on Monday lost the confidence vote sought by Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, in the face of its depleted strength of 11 against the opposition's 14 following resignation of ruling dispensation MLAs, including a Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam legislator.
Vijayakanth was unwell for quite some time and his wife Premalatha took over the reins of the party days ago.
An All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam youth wing secretary was among the three men arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with the sensational 2019 sexual harassment case in Pollachi town, taking the total number of persons held so far to eight.
When M K Stalin attended the Jayalalithaa government's swearing-in and the chief minister thanked him for the gesture, a new page was turned in the state's political lexicon, reports B Srikumar.
We (the AIADMK government) are going to implement the programmes initiated by Amma (Jayalalithaa) in our remaining term of four-and-a-half-years. "Now a stable government is in place in the state. You will see a new era of development to realise the dreams of Amma under the guidance of Chinnamma (Sasikala)," he said.
Confidence vote stalled after ruckus by opposition.
O Panneerselvam should not be surprised if the current controversy that he has kicked off is used to rid him of the party coordinator's post, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The moot point is if a re-energised Jayalalitha will order snap polls when the Opposition is in disarray and her own political starts are on the rise, says N Nathiya Moorthy.
Bypolls in three assembly constituencies in as many states passed off peacefully on Monday with around over 70 per cent voter turnout, though some technical glitches in electronic voting machine were reported in Tamil Nadu and the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal alleged that the Central Reserve Police Force was "influencing" voters.
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general council meeting on Monday revived the general secretary post, and picked Edappadi K Palaniswami as the interim GS.
A formal decision would be made on the Chief Ministerial candidate of the NDA once the Election Commission issues the notification for the assembly elections, expected in April-May, he said, adding the strategy was part of the ongoing exercise to strengthen the BJP in the state.
The legislators moved out of the resort as it was already booked for the weekend, sources said.
MK Stalin's ruling AIDMK rival does not thankfully face such problems as he did, but its problems could be worse if saner counsel does not prevail between now and the assembly polls, warns N Sathiya Moorthy.
Stalin, 68, was contesting as the chief ministerial candidate for the first time during these polls. He was elected unopposed as the DMK chief in August 2018, after the death of his father, a post that Karunanidhi held for 49 years. That didn't come as a surprise to anyone, as during his lifetime, Karunanidhi, on multiple occasions made his preference for his successor abundantly clear and systematically groomed him for the job.
Jaitley, the first Union minister to meet Jaya since her conviction, manages to secure the AIADMK's conditional support to the government's crucial legislations in the Rajya Sabha.
Stalin, whose party has a strength of 89 members in the 234-member house, claimed his efforts were not aimed at taking DMK to power nor was there any intention of enjoying posts.
The workers, who cleaned the statue, demanded the arrest of the culprits and warned that they would intensify their agitation if such incidents recurred, police said.
Ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's arch rival Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and main opposition party in the state Assembly Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam are finally set to fight it out to bag the sixth seat in the June 27 biennial elections for the Rajya Sabha from Tamil Nadu.
'Tamil Nadu will never allow the Centre's three-language policy'
After a gap of 10 days, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa turned up at the state secretariat on Wednesday, putting an end to the Opposition's queries regarding her health condition.
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's dominant Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) faction on Friday asserted that the system of dual leadership that vested powers on coordinator O Panneerselvam (OPS) and joint coordinator EPS ceased to be in force, a day after the general council stood firm on the single leadership demand.
Indications are that Modi will have words of encouragement for Stalin, and the meeting is likely to be much less acrimonious than critics of either would want it to be. notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Vowing to retain power for the second time in a row, they said such 'anti-people' forces must be taught a lesson again by vanquishing them through hardwork, unity and allegiance to the party.
There is nothing to suggest that the DMK stands to gain from the AIADMK split nor is there anything indicative of an extraordinary advantage for the BJP, independently or in the company of the AIADMK, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
"I have not lost my confidence (that DMDK would join the DMK-led front)," said Karunanidhi.
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.
A bench comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde and justices R Subhash Reddy and A S took note of the submission of the main opposition party of the state that speaker has not been taking any decision on the MLAs for last three years and issued notices to him, assembly secretary and 11 lawmakers including O Panneerselvam.
'Sometimes we use political pressure and sometimes political acumen to get what we want.'
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.
For Prime Minister Narendra Modi to dig up the perceived past of the DMK rival, now under a new leader in M K Stalin, may not gel with the voters, both old and new. If they are still going to vote for the AIADMK-BJP combine, it will be for entirely different reasons, and despite Modi's poll speeches, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
After an initial close fight, AINRC managed to win only eight seats, including the Indira Nagar constituency by party founder and Chief Minister N Rangasamy.
Leaders of various opposition parties on Sunday demanded that issues of price rise, 'Agnipath' scheme as well as the alleged misuse of investigative agencies be taken up in Parliament and also raised objections to the list of 'unparliamentary words' at an all-party meeting convened by the government ahead of the Monsoon Session.
Finance Minister P T R Palanivel Thiagarajan has proclaimed his determination to set Tamil Nadu's fiscal house in order in five years, and Friday will show how he plans to go about it when he rises to present the Stalin government's maiden budget, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Stalin said that even in Gujarat the vice-chancellors are not appointed by the governor but the State.
AIADMK's Jayalalithaa won three assembly by-elections from her hospital bed. However, the DMK heir's decision to disempower second-line satraps, who were running personal fiefdoms in their districts, and his fresh approach, could prove beneficial in the next polls, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Opposition parties now recognise that the king on one side of the chessboard, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is ensconced, and unlikely to be shaken, although on his side there are no identifiable kings, queens, rooks, bishops or knights.
The DMK feels its genuine gestures have had no bearing on the governor's politico-administrative conduct, which is 'more political and politicised than administrative and Constitutional', observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
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