The AIADMK's staying power is not in question, but it has to regain the winning streak. That will require its leaders and leadership to re-wire themselves, to be able to re-think situations in ways different from what they had been accustomed to, suggests Sathiya Moorthy.
Kapil Mishra had been invited because he was an "anti-corruption crusader", one 'IIT B for Bharat' organiser said. But in his half hour-long speech, Mishra didn't mention corruption. His entire focus was on the long "battle" Hindus had fought for their identity.
Protests intensified in Tamil Nadu against Karnataka's opposition to the Hogenakkal water project with two hotels owned by Kannada businessmen being targeted for the second day and a farm house of a Kannada actor attacked while agitators in Bangalore stoned a cable operator office for refusing to black out Tamil channels. Activists of Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (PDK) attacked a restaurant at Nungambakkam in Chennai on Thursday evening, smashing window panes.
"Some are creating an impression that Rajinikanth is to launch a party at the instigation of people who intend to decimate the Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu. "Let me tell you, this is the land of Periyar (Dravidar Kazhagam founder E V Ramasamy Naicker), Anna (C N Annadurai) and Kalaignar (Karunanidhi)... such efforts in the past have ended in a fiasco," Stalin said.
In a state where Hindu social identity continues to remain in the overarching Dravida umbrella, the 'Hindutva' political identity does not have the same, or even near-similar electoral purchase, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The four-member fact-finding committee recommended Vice Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar be dismissed and criminal investigation initiated against him. It also demanded a complete rollback of the JNU fee hike.
From Bali to Bhutan, we'll tell you the places to head to!
The decision to suspend the operations was taken after shutters of the Idamalayar and Cheruthoni dams, part of Idukki reservoir, were opened on Tuesday evening to release excess water.
'It is because we treat them as our own people, and there is no difference between owners and workers here.'
'I knew there was a huge business opportunity, but it was Dr Kalam who made me jump into it as an entrepreneur.'
The revived factionalism in the AIADMK, if not curbed now, has the potential to split the party vertically, warns N Sathiya Moorthy.
He said these were the DMK's demands and his long time wish. Tamil youths should work for the fulfilment of these demands and people of other states should co-operate for achieving it.
'A recent compromise by the state government is accepting NEET exams for medical entrance.'
He joined the All India Anna Dravida Munnethra Kazhagam after MGR founded the party and served in his ministry as Food, Labour and Health Minister till 1988.
While the DMK fears that the Congress with its poor strike rate will pull it down in the 2021 state elections, like it did five years ago, the ruling AIADMK is worried that the BJP may ultimately do a Bihar on it, relegating it to second place in Tamil Nadu, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
New Union minister L Murugan's declaration of Kongu Nadu as his native place, instead of Tamil Nadu, may be part of a grand BJP strategy to create new states out of existing ones, particularly those that have anti-BJP governments, mulls N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Kerala government has made it clear that it would not provide security to any woman of menstruating age visiting the shrine, as per Devaswom Board Minister K Surendran.
An advocate and the president of a political outfit have filed the petitions opposing grant of bail to the seer.
The incident is said to have occurred in the wee hours when a huge mound of earth fell on the 'row houses' and two children and five women were among the deceased, most of whom were plantation workers from neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
It is for the first time in 13 years that the water has reached near-capacity level.
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AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa is likely to make her first public appearance on Friday for a scheduled MLAs meet in Chennai, party officials said.
A large number of DMK workers formed a queue at the party office in Chennai to greet Karunanidhi.
Stalin owes his victory this time, like in 2019, to the hate-campaign of the local Hindutva forces, which kept haranguing him, and even his dead father, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
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.
The protests staged a protest inside the campus demanding recognition and an apology from the dean for his action against them.
"Is it possible for women to trek kilometers through the forest path and stand amongst the packed crowd?"
A time has thus come when state encouragement for rural students led to empowerment of the socio-economically marginalised sections of the population. It included women. Today, with greater exposure and consequent enlightenment, it has gone beyond 'empowerment' to become 'entitlement', says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly Ramesh Chennithala demanded a judicial probe into the circumstances that led to opening of shutters of 40-odd dams at a time in the state.
The BJP office bearer said if Communists love this country, how did they take part in an "anti-national" event.
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam supremo J Jayalalithaa was on Friday unanimously elected its legislature party leader, paving the way for her return as a chief minister of Tamil Nadu for the fourth time.
Back of the envelope calculations put government expense on each of the new schemes promised by the DMK and the AIADMK at tens of thousands of crores. But then, neither party has said how they are going to also address the mounting debt burden either, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
This time round, even 'petrol coupons' were reportedly distributed for those attending campaign rallies, especially those addressed by top leaders, cutting across party lines. If this owed to the rising cost of petrol and diesel -- which is a poll issue this time -- there were the customary coupons for 'quarter' (liquor bottle size) and non-vegetarian biryani. Some media reports claimed that some of these 'crowds' attended more than one political rally on the same day in the last week, and at times for rival political parties in adjoining constituencies or districts, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The 65-year-old leader's ascent as the DMK chief heralds a new era in the Dravidian party, making him only the second man after his father to be elected as party president.
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen MP from Hyderabad, chanted "Jai Bheem, Jai Meem, Takbeer Allahu Akbar, Jai Hind", after members from the ruling side shouted slogans of 'Jai Shri Ram', 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and 'Vande Mataram'.
'In the hands of a majoritarian government, with utter contempt for the cultural plurality and diversity of our great nation, the pipe dream of making Hindi the sole official language takes on nightmarish proportions.'
The National Commission for Scheduled Castes on Monday sought an additional report from the institution.
A protest over the issue of de-recognition of an Indian Institute of Technology-Madras students' group was on Monday held outside the human resource development ministry's office in New Delhi.
