Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the NDA's victory in the Bihar assembly elections as a win for good governance, development, and social justice. He congratulated alliance partners and thanked the people of Bihar for their support.
Vijay is counting on what was once proclaimed as his last filmi outing, Jana Nayagan, or 'People's Hero', to do the trick for him, when it releases on January 9, 2026, only months before the assembly poll, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Issuing notice to the ED on the plea filed by the Tamil Nadu government and Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC), a bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih told Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the anti-money laundering probe agency, that "Your ED is crossing all the limits."
The Election Commission is ramping up preparations for a special intensive revision of voter lists across India, assessing the progress made on mapping current electors with voters as per the last SIR in different states.
Senior AIADMK leader M Thambidurai has asserted that there will be no coalition government in Tamil Nadu in 2026, with party chief Edappadi K Palaniswami forming a government "alone." He said this in response to reporters' queries on the possibility of a coalition government if the NDA wins the 2026 Assembly election. Thambidurai stated that Tamil Nadu has never had a coalition government, citing the examples of Congress leaders C Rajagopalachari and K Kamaraj, as well as Dravidian stalwarts M G Ramachandran and M Karunanidhi. He further clarified that Palaniswami's previous statement regarding a coalition government was misinterpreted by the media.
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Flowing from an inadequate understanding of Tamil history and politics is an urban elitist mindset that does not seem to be able to touch and feel the real angst of the larger Tamil-speaking masses, cutting across the social and economic status of the individual, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The O Panneerselvam-led AIADMK Cadres Rights Retrieval Committee has withdrawn from the BJP-led NDA coalition, a year after joining. The move follows meetings between Panneerselvam and DMK Chief Minister M K Stalin, fueling speculation about future alliances.
The debate over working hours flared up after Infosys Co-founder N R Narayana Murthy called for 14-hour workdays.
Allowing 12-hour shifts for all and night-time work for women was meant to benefit software firms, but is said to have clinched Foxconn's Rs 80 billion investment.
Tamil Nadu's politics returns to being bi-polar, and that's a good thing, says B Srikumar.
Kamal has a crisp pen when it comes to writing short and yet powerful film dialogues. But while speaking ex tempore -- and that has been his style -- he looks every bit a confused man, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The likes of Sengottaiyan can help Vijay navigate it better and faster -- but not necessarily to his goal, which is farther, and can move towards or away from him as well in the weeks and months to come, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
While acknowledging that they needed strong allies for a chance in the assembly polls, AIADMK cadres seemingly prefer actor-politician Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam to the BJP, owing to the latter's 'communal agenda' and consequent hardline Hindutva image, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
The two weeks that EPS took fending off the Sengottaiyan rebellion has since become lost time for the AIADMK as that was also the time Vijay took to go all-out against Stalin and the DMK, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
After a gap of 10 years, the DMK snatched the reins of power from arch rival AIADMK, with its president M K Stalin leading the party to a stellar performance and in the process, helming the state as chief minister for the first time.
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.
'Rahul Gandhi's problem is that he doesn't think big.' 'He looks more like an activist, while politics is like a game of chess. You attack and then defend and have a game-plan.'
EVMs can't be used in presidential, vice-presidential, or Rajya Sabha polls because they only count simple votes, not the preference-based system needed for these elections.
'Are elections still fair in India, or are we all witness to a macabre style of 'selection' of lawmakers? The jury will be out on this for a long time because there is no definitive evidence on either contention, at least as yet,' notes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author, Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
While there is likely no bar on Jayalalithaa meeting with Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and his cabinet colleagues, she may not see senior government officials or see official files.
'Karur could still impact Jana Nayagan's box-office success if Vijay and the TVK do not get their act together,' points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The sops sanctioned by J Jayalalithaa on her first day in office could cost the exchequer up to Rs 8,000 crore annually.
'It has the potential to sow seeds of furthering discord when the direction of the discourse is aimed at propagating the perceived supremacy of 'cultural nationalism' from a distant past over the prevailing dominance of 'Constitutional nationalism',' argues N Sathiya Moorthy.
'...the electoral playing field is tilted significantly in its favour.'
The Tamil Nadu government released video clippings showing violations of norms at actor-politician Vijay's rally in Karur, claiming the crowd size more than doubled, causing hardships and leading to a stampede.
P Balakrishna Reddy was sentenced Reddy to three years rigorous imprisonment in a two-decade old riot case related to a protest against illicit liquor in Hosur.
With Tamil Nadu's electoral fate decided, all eyes would now veer round to the pending 'disproportionate assets case' against Jayalalithaa in the Supreme Court, and Stalin's own future within the DMK, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
...the DMK chief minister's campaign -- which includes criticism of the BJP's 'pro-Hindutva, anti-Tamil, anti-federal' policies and building on his own government's social welfare programmes targeting especially women and youth -- appeals to Tamil Nadu's voters in next year's assembly election, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami has asserted that alliances are formed only at the time of elections and declined to categorically say if his party would align with the BJP for the 2026 Assembly polls. Palaniswami met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday and brought to his attention several issues faced by Tamil Nadu, including the need for funds release, the implementation of the Godavari-Cauvery river linking plan, and a probe into the "TASMAC scam." He said that while the party would decide on an alliance at the time of the election, he did not rule out a tie-up with the BJP.
In a one-horse race, ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam led by Jayalalithaa on Friday inflicted a crushing defeat on its arch-rival DMK, Congress and BJP-led six-party alliance, winning 4 seats and establishing unassailable leads in 33 out of the 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu.
In more than one way, it's a setback for the DMK and Chief Minister Stalin in political terms. The electoral fall-out, if any, will have to wait until the next summer, only when assembly elections are due in the state, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
Thousands of TMC supporters thronged the rally route, waving the party flags, raising slogans and holding aloft colourful posters.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has refuted claims made by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin regarding fund allocation and delimitation, accusing him of spreading misinformation and engaging in diversionary tactics. Shah asserted that the Modi government has provided significant financial support to Tamil Nadu and denied claims of any reduction in Parliamentary representation for the state following delimitation. He also criticized the DMK government's handling of law and order, citing issues such as drug trafficking and corruption. Shah expressed confidence in the BJP's prospects in the upcoming Assembly elections, predicting a larger victory than in Maharashtra and Haryana.
The state government claimed that 66.49 per cent of buses belonging to state transport undertakings were plying since Saturday night across the state.
An unhappy, restive mood prevails at the Ford factory Maraimala Nagar, 50 km from Chennai, and the surrounding area. The security is tight - not just Ford security personnel but also Tamil Nadu state police who are posted at the main gate. From September 9, when Ford India announced it was phasing out its units in India and leaving, workers at its manufacturing unit at Maraimala Nagar have held onto one hope: that the state government will step in to save their jobs.
Vaiko's stock dwindles as the DMK's poaching of his cadre continues unabated. R Ramasubramanian reports from Chennai.
Sixty-nine-year-old Kumar appealed to his party workers to work towards bringing the BJP to power in Tamil Nadu following polls to the state assembly in 2026.
The last time Tamil Nadu seriously voted on pre-poll promises was in faraway 1967.
India has become Apple's main export hub to the US, which consumes over $40 billion worth of iPhones annually.
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