The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has uncovered "multiple irregularities" in the operations of TASMAC, the state-run monopoly controlling liquor trade in Tamil Nadu. The agency found evidence of "manipulation" in tender processes and "unaccounted" cash transactions worth Rs 1,000 crore through distillery companies. The ED alleges that these irregularities involved "kickbacks" to secure increased supply orders from TASMAC and systematic inflation of expenses by distillery companies to siphon off unaccounted cash.
At the end of the day, Stalin expressing solidarity with an arrested colleague is one thing, especially if he too felt that the minister had been wronged, but for him to retain the person in office sets a bad precedent, which would not go unnoticed by voters, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Mehta told the bench that Balaji is an influential minister and the high court has allowed his transfer to a private hospital which could hamper investigation.
'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.'
Udhayanidhi's 'untimely' elevation as deputy CM may be used against the party, for critics to argue that the DMK's 'first family's is not concerned about anything else but their clan's welfare. If packaged and delivered properly, some of the sting may stick at election time, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
CM Stalin has a procedural problem. Nominating new ministers would entail his having to seek formal permission from governor R N Ravi. Stalin does not want to interact with the person of this governor, as far as possible, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
A Supreme Court vacation bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice MM Sundresh noted that the petition was still pending in the high court and asked the ED to approach that court.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday conducted searches against Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji and some others as part of a money laundering investigation and held multi-city searches, official sources said.
AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami is under pressure from his party as his unclear stand on the BJP alliance has brought back fears among party workers that the party may lose its identity, be forced into an unwanted coalition, and be taken over by the BJP later, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'If it is repeated by other governors, then no government will be safe.'
'The governor was a senior IPS officer who should know the Constitution.'
Following up on an announcement made on the floor of the state assembly, 500 retail liquor outlets in Tamil Nadu will stop functioning from June 22 onwards, the state government-run TASMAC said on Wednesday.
Gurindervir, Kujur, Manikanta, Amlan set new 4x100m relay national record
In a letter to Murmu, Stalin said that Ravi has violated the oath of office he took under Article 159 of the Constitution, the government said in an official release.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday warned the Bharatiya Janata Party not to 'provoke' the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, saying it will not be able to 'bear the consequences' and that his party also knows 'all types of politics', escalating his attack on the saffron party after the arrest of his cabinet colleague V Senthil Balaji.
While Governor Ravi's speeches have put the local BJP supporters on the defensive in matters of religion and social justice, his add-on 'attack on the constitutional scheme' in the 'Senthil Balaji case', has been condemned squarely by many legal experts and editorial writers across the country, thus adding weight to CM Stalin's position -- at least until the courts come up with their binding views, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
After making landfall near Puducherry on November 30, Cyclone Fengal weakened on Sunday, but torrential downpour under its influence paralysed the union territory, with the Army stepping in to evacuate stranded persons in inundated streets.
A day after Tamil Nadu law minister S Regupathy wrote to Ravi requesting him that he should 'not delay any further' his sanction to prosecute former AIADMK ministers and clear the 13 Bills pending with him for his assent, the Governor's office reacted.
The TN law minister said similarly, the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption sought sanction to prosecute KC Veeramani and MR Vijayabaskar, also former ministers in the AIADMK government.
Opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam members were on Monday evicted enmasse from Tamil Nadu Assembly with a couple of them being handed a two-day suspension for disrupting the proceedings.
Stalin is preparing the DMK to go the whole hog in making 'federalism', 'Tamil self-respect' and 'communal cohesiveness' the party's poll plank next year, and package the BJP and its possible allies, as 'divisive' and 'reactionary', predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Chandrasekhar was reacting to the arrest of Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party leader S G Suryah under the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology (IT) Act allegedly over a social media post.
With Sundar raking up the issue on Twitter and later emotionally addressing a press conference, the ruling party announced that the platform speaker, Sivaji Krishnamurthy, was being dismissed from the party for indiscipline and bringing disrepute to it.
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 Supreme Court on Monday dismissed pleas of Tamil Nadu minister V Senthil Balaji and his wife Megala challenging the Madras high court order upholding his arrest in a money laundering case.
The government denied granting permission to serve liquor at wedding halls, even as the opposition parties slammed the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's move to dilute the total prohibition policy.
"The DMK is not worried a wee bit," he said on the ED searches. Such an action by the ED was 'usual, ordinary and a drama' enacted to divert attention.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin's Cabinet, including him, would be 34-member strong and he has retained senior leaders like Duraimurugan and over a dozen shall be ministers for the first time.
'In Tamil Nadu we head the NDA, the BJP is a junior partner.' 'As long as they know that, all will be well.'
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.
Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party state president K Annamalai on Friday released 'DMK Files' alleging top ministers from the party and Chief Minister MK Stalin's family members had accumulated unaccounted assets.
Neither the ruling DMK nor the fractured AIADMK Opposition anticipated that an assembly by-election would put them both to test, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Already, there is a feeling even within the BJP's AIADMK ally that the BJP is overdoing things on the ED/I-T front, as corruption is not an election issue in the state -- as long as the people are otherwise not excessively unhappy with the governing party, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The BJP and the AIADMK are unable to sort out ideological differences, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
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.
Days after his outburst against AMMK leader T T V Dhinakaran, close aide Thanga Tamilselvan on Friday joined the DMK in the presence of its chief M K Stalin. He is the second top Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam leader after V Senthil Balaji to join the principal opposition party in Tamil Nadu.
A police release in Coimbatore said a case has been registered in the Ukkadam police station over the incident.
In focus are the assembly polls in 2026. From a BJP perspective, their attack on the ruling DMK, using the 'Hindutva' card, and Annamalai's targeting of both Dravidian majors on corruption has not worked, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
A day after their party supremo and Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was convicted and sentenced in the Rs 66.65 crore illegal asset case, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MLAs are likely to meet here on Sunday to propose a candidate for the chief minister's post.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam legislator and the party's youth wing secretary Udhayanidhi Stalin was sworn in as minister in Chennai on Wednesday by Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi.
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