The DMDK officially joined the DMK-led alliance ahead of the upcoming Tamil Nadu assembly elections, marking a significant political development in the state.
First Information Reports have been filed against Dravida Munnetra Kazagham President M Karunanidhi and his son and party treasurer M K Stalin in connection with a clash between their supporters and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam workers in the wake of conviction of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in the assets case.
All set to take over as the Leader of the Opposition in the 15th Tamil Nadu sssembly, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam scion M K Stalin on Tuesday vowed to do justice to the post and take up people's issues in a constructive way in the legislature.
Backing a seperate Eelam (homeland) for Sri Lankan Tamils, Dravida Munetra Kazhagam president M Karunanidhi has reiterated his demand for India's role in this regard as he sought reviving Tamil Eelam Supporters Organisation.
Hundreds of Dravida Munetra Kazhagam workers, including its Treasurer MK Stalin, were arrested on Tuesday as part of the dawn-to-dusk general strike by the party-backed pro-Sri Lankan Tamil outfit Tamil Eelam Supporters Organization which evoked mixed response with normal life by and large remaining unaffected in Tamil Nadu.
Palanivel Thiaga Rajan was on Thursday relieved of the finance portfolio by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin.
Sibling rivalry between Stalin and his elder brother M K Alagiri came to the fore recently, when the latter claimed that true loyalists of Karunanidhi were with him.
They expressed joy on Jayalalithaa being acquitted in the Rs 66.66 crore disproportionate assets case by the Karnataka high court on Monday.
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.
Throwing his party's weight behind the Congress to ensure an Opposition win in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday said arguments by some favouring a front without the grand old party should be rejected.
Jayalalithaa, who took oath as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for the sixth time, said if she would have been informed she would have instructed the officers in charge of the arrangements to provide a seat to Stalin in the first row, relaxing the norms in the Protocol Manual.
The DMK has Stalin and Stalin alone as the key campaigner. The rest of them all, including half-sister Kanimozhi, are tied down to their own constituencies while those like party treasurer and former minister S Duraimurugan, to those of their children's constituencies.
Azad said the "discussion of election strategy was the main purpose."
The fate of Mohana Rao was not immediately known.
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.
A high-pitched battle between party patriarch Karunanidhi and son MK Stalin for power and the failure to oust corrupt leaders and maintain a clean image has left the party in shambles, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Neither Thiruvalluvar nor me will get trapped, Rajini said with a big laugh.
However, the tilting factor still remains: Can the rivalling 'Modi brand' of 'soft Hindutva' and 'hard-sell nationalism' garner more votes for the NDA in Tamil Nadu, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
The ruling AIADMK is leaving no stone unturned to win the Vellore Lok Sabha poll and push its tally to two in the state, with its candidate even donning the skull cap to woo minority votes. But the DMK's stars are clearly on the ascendant in the lone constituency that goes to the polls on August 5. A Ganesh Nadar reports.
The AIADMK swept the polls winning 37 of the 39 seats, leaving DMK, its rivals, and the BJP to do a serious rethinking before the assembly elections in 2016, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
There were unconfirmed reports that the AIADMK would even parade the MLAs before the President.
There is no alternative for the party and the state to wait for CM Jaya to return home as CM Jaya, and make her call, says N Sathiya Moorthy.