Complaints were received by the Commission on possibilities of inducement of electors by distributing cash and gifts in innovative forms like tokens, prepaid phone recharge coupons, newspaper subscription, milk tokens.
The by-elections to 18 assembly constituencies will decide if the ruling AIADMK remains in power or not.
Large number of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam supporters have been waiting anxiously outside the Apollo Hospital in Chennai since Sunday night for information on ailing chief minister and party supremo Jayalaithaa who suffered a cardiac arrest after days of showing improvement.
The Election Commission is set to ask the government to amend laws to disqualify candidates listed in chargesheets for bribing candidates, a move which comes days after it cancelled a Tamil Nadu assembly bypoll following allegations of use of money to influence electors.
Squandering the relief due to rain, Delhi recorded a jump in pollution levels and a smoky haze returned on Monday after people flouted the ban on firecrackers on Diwali night.
Coming out clear on its intent to go it alone in Puducherry, the AIADMK released its candidates list for all the 30 constituencies for the May 16 assembly polls.
BJP heavyweights Smriti Irani, Arjun Munda, Ajay Mishra Teni and Kailash Chaudhary were among the 13 Union ministers who tasted defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, as stunning losses in three Hindi heartland states forced the BJP to rely on allies to form the government.
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.
It said the election to Patkura assembly seat in Odisha will be held on July 20.
Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Assam and the Union Territory of neighbouring Puducherry are likely to go to polls in April or May.
The faction led by O Panneerselvam will be referred to as 'AIADMK Puratchi Thalaivi Amma' and the Sasikala faction will be referred to as 'AIADMK Amma'.
Dinakaran recalled the difficulties faced by party workers in carrying forward their organisational work without a name.
To claim that Tamil Nadu was waiting for a messiah of the 'spiritual' Rajini kind is misplaced, if not mischievous, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
TTV Dinakaran could be in more trouble as I-T officials have found a connection between him and Jaya TV and other Jayalalithaa companies, reports Aditi Phadnis.
The Mahagathbandhan's seat-sharing announcement comes a day after the filing of nomination papers for the first phase of Lok Sabha polls was over.
The legislators moved out of the resort as it was already booked for the weekend, sources said.
A tweet by O Panneerselvam, leader of the Puratchi Thalaivi faction of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, on a possible alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party after the declaration of civic polls kicked up a storm on Saturday.
Asserting that there was no split in the party, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader from Sasikala camp M Thambidurai on Thursday requested the Election Commission "not to entertain" the dissenting cadres, who have staked claim to AIADMK symbol and sought fresh election to the general secretary's post.
There are so many questions surrounding the conduct of the revised bypoll to Chennai's RK Nagar seat that it stretches the credibility of the electoral process, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Monday convened a meeting of her cabinet, the first after she returned to the top post following her acquittal in a wealth case in May this year.
Since the demise of former All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam supremo and chief minister J Jayalalithaa in December last year, Tamil Nadu's political scenario has witnessed unprecedented drama. Following is the chronology of major events in the southern state's ruling party.
Karunanidhi, 94, died at the Kauvery hospital on Tuesday following prolonged illness.
Dinakaran said how could he flee the country when his passport 'is in court' for 20 years.
Expelled All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazahagm leader VK Sasikala on Tuesday arrived in Chennai, 23 hours after her departure from Bengaluru, where she had served a four year jail term in a corruption case and also underwent treatment for COVID-19.
The AIADMK chief filed her nomination papers for June 27 bypoll to the Radhakrishnan Nagar assembly constituency.
Palaniswami and Paneerselvam joined to oust Dinakaran and EC cancelled R K Nagar by-election.
In what appears to be a mega celebration for the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam workers and supporters, party supremo Jayalalithaa, fresh from her acquittal, will make her first public appearance in several months in Chennai on Friday.
'They are going to be clubbed with the Lok Sabha elections which are six months away.' 'These people who are ruling Tamil Nadu know very well that they cannot win another election.'
The AIADMK bagged 134 seats as counting of votes was taken up for 232 of the 234 assembly constituencies. Polling in two constituencies has been postponed to May 23.
'Tamil Nadu is a state of temples, it's a holy land. People don't seem to realise that.'
Even as the actor-turned-politician said that it was just 'a courtesy call', speculation about a future alliance between them has been doing the rounds in the national capital, says R Rajagopalan.
As counting is on in the five states - Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Assam and West Bengal -- here's a look at where the heavyweights stand.
The sidelined leader's victory is being seen as a worrying development both for AIADMK and principal opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which finished third behind the ruling party.
In the 2015 bypoll in the same RK Nagar seat, she had declared total assets of Rs 117.13 crore.
Manish Sisodia, Satyender Jain, Gopal Rai, Kailash Gehlot, Imran Hussain, and Rajendra Gautamas took oath as the ministers in Delhi.
Party sources indicated that there were "some ticklish issues" that were to be addressed by both groups, but declined to elaborate further.
'The alliance led by the DMK is starting with 15% votes while the AIADMK is starting from scratch.' 'Minority votes may be crucial'
L Murugan, 44, is the only newly-sworn minister who is not a member of Rajya Sabha or Lok Sabha.
By aligning with the BJP, even if they were arm-twisted into doing so, the AIADMK leadership has yielded their political space in the state to the aunt-nephew duo of Sasikala-Dinakaran, and the parliamentary election to the DMK-Congress combine, says A Ganesh Nadar.
AIADMK had decided to 'de-link' V K Sasikala and Dinakaran from the party.
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