As results pour in for the four states -- West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam -- and one Union Territory -- Puducherry - here's a glimpse at the leaders who are trailing and those who are leading.
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.
"I (have) already told you. Only time will answer all these questions," Rajinikanth said.
Congress MP Mani Shankar Aiyar, who stirred up a controversy with his "tea-vendor" taunt against Narendra Modi, on Monday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate of starting personal attacks against leaders and said he had only given a "fitting reply".
'He just said that those who cannot control the violence should go. He did not name the BJP.'
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'.
"I am not your leader, I am your tool.. this gathering is full of leaders," he said moments before announcing the party's name that roughly translates to "Centre for People's Justice."
If Sasikala wants to stay in active politics, she will have to go to EPS crawling, reports Aditi Phadnis.
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It was decided by Tamil Nadu Congress to push for at least 45 seats and in a worst case scenario climb down a few seats and conclude the deal and it has worked out as was expected.
They were distributing pamphlets which allegedly containing defamatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami.
'The biggest agitation in Tamil Nadu -- after the anti-Hindi agitation in 1965 -- were the Jallikattu protests. The anti-Hindi agitations had the backing of a political party but this one does not. No famous actor is involved in it either. It was an incredible agitation.'
Amidst a strong buzz of his possible political entry, the veteran actor announced the launch of a 'digital platform' which he said could act as a 'whistle-blower'.
R Rajagopalan, who travelled through Tamil Nadu, says it will be an election of many firsts.
"The cricket board has been apprised of our sentiments," Fisheries minister D Jayakumar said.
Neither emotions nor a structured approach to addressing critical issues came out in Kamal Hassan's inaugural speech on Wednesday, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
There will be 2,364 counting halls as compared to 1,002 halls in 2016 in 822 assemble constituencies, a more than 200 percent increase, in view of the COVID guidelines, according to the Election Commission which had drawn flak from the courts over the conduct of polls during the pandemic.
'I am grateful that this film has happened, it makes me so proud of the country and of the Indian Army.' Brandy Batliwala, Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw's eldest grandchild, on the man behind the hero.
The EPS camp believes that the BJP was already arm-twisting the AIADMK into conceding more seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections 'than they deserve' observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The actor now plans to move an appeal in the Supreme Court against the High Court order.
The actor said the "clown's cap" was now being foisted on the head of Tamils and urged them to "erupt".
For now, the BJP's strategy for Khushbu seems to be one of denial -- denying the rival Congress in the state and also at the national-level a Muslim voice acceptable to Hindu audiences and TV news-watchers. This is much less than the induction of DMK veterans like Duraiswamy and Selvam, who still have a greater chances of winning assembly seats,, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
In Tamil Nadu politics J Jayalalithaa is the queen of all she surveys today, But there are some ground realities that may still dent her high ambition. Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt's fascinating new column where she reveals the ground realities in the Battle for India.
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The actress bagged the runners-up position in the women's doubles and mixed doubles at the state level championship.
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Kamal Haasan defends his film Vishwaroopam in an official statement.
Come May 16, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance will have more seats from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh than any formation mustered by the Congress, notes T V R Shenoy.
With Tamil Nadu's economy getting increasingly debt-ridden with each passing budget, any concession to the Centre on the tax front, the state government has argued, would only help forgotten 'minor parties' to start hoping of a revival, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Why did Kamal Haasan name the leaders he did?
Taking a veiled swipe at the Congress party, he said one of the things he found when he came to Delhi was that those who got opportunity to rule the nation for "many, many years, loved to keep things in a pendulum mode".
Announcing his decision on Twitter, Rajinikanth said, "In the ensuing state assembly elections, with the tremendous support of the people, Tamil Nadu will have an honest, upright, transparent, corruption-free, secular spiritual political setup." "A marvel, miracle, it will happen," he wrote in Tamil. "We will change, we will change everything. If not now, then never."
Rajinikanth's visible electoral strength is his constant mouthing of the term, 'aanmiga arasiyal', or 'spiritual politics', without he having to explain what it is. By implication, it is all that what Dravidian politics is not about. It may imply anti-corruption, being against Periyar's forgotten anti-god, anti-Brahmin dictum, but also ends up covering 'Tamil pride', which begins with Tamil language where, as a Maratha from Karnataka, he has more to defend himself. However, in the contemporary national context, aanmiga arasiyal is seen as a front for Rajini to market his brand of 'soft Hindutva' but identified even more with the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in political terms, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Though the DMK clinched the deal with the Congress after a logjam over seat allocation and identification, cadres of both parties are yet to forget the mental agony they underwent all these days, according to political analysts in Chennai. The high commands of the two parties will find it a tough task to prevail on them to go for election campaign straightaway, they said
'Vishal told me he envisioned me while writing (the script), but I was not well.' 'He called me and said, 'Navindraji, hum aap ka dhyaan rakhenge set par.' 'That's how I got on board, and they really pampered me.'
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The Congress leader said he has traversed across the country, "but I have not seen violence, hatred anywhere. But I see it on television all the time."
Legendary icon Rajnikant was given the Best Actor award for 2005 for his role of a psychiatrist dealing with a lady suffering from split personality, while Kamal Haasan bagged the award for year 2006, for his movie Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu where he tracks down two psycho serial killers.
The actress is busy with four different language movies -- Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi!
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