The ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu has won the Erode East bypoll with a massive margin, defeating actor-politician Seeman's NTK. The victory is seen as a boost for the DMK ahead of next year's Assembly elections. DMK candidate V C Chandhirakumar trounced Naam Tamilar Katchi's (NTK) M K Seethalakshmi by a margin of 91,558 votes, leading to the NTK forfeiting its deposit. Chief Minister and DMK president Stalin attributed the win to the DMK government's good governance, while AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami termed it a "fake" victory. The bypoll was necessitated due to the death of Congress MLA EVKS Elangovan last year.
The extent of doubts over the fairness of this election can be assessed by juxtaposing two figures: Total votes polled by the two principal parties and the number of people who were disallowed from voting this time, observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The Chhattisgarh government has introduced a bill aimed at preventing religious conversions through force, inducement, or misrepresentation, sparking opposition and debate in the state assembly.
The Supreme Court has ruled that a Governor cannot send bills to the President for consideration if the state assembly has already cleared them for a second time. The court was questioning the Centre over the powers of the Governor when it comes to granting assent to bills.
The Tamil Nadu government has urged the Supreme Court to dismiss the Presidential reference concerning the Governor's powers to assent to bills, arguing it is an 'appeal in disguise' to overturn settled law.
The BJP and the Opposition have engaged in a war of words over the implementation of the women's reservation bill, which aims to reserve seats for women in legislatures. The bill was defeated in the Lower House, leading to accusations and counter-accusations between the parties.
The resolution, piloted by Chief Minister M K Stalin, contended that the recommendation submitted to the President on September 9, are against the state languages including Tamil and also against the interest of the people who speak those languages.
'Stalin's intention is plain and simple.' 'The DMK wants to convert what is an 'incumbency-centred' election for the party-led alliance into one more 'Modi/BJP election' after Stalin's successive success in 2019 and 2021, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
State after state has imposed an alcohol ban, and has had to retreat, unable to address the financial and administrative fallout. Are we set for more of this cycle, asks Aditi Phadnis.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman criticizes the DMK government in Tamil Nadu, alleging corruption, caste-based crimes, and a rise in drug abuse. She dismisses the DMK's claims about language and Dravidian identity as a distraction from their governance failures.
As Tamil Nadu gears up for elections, a clash of films with distinct political ideologies is set to unfold at the box office, mirroring the rivalry between political parties.
As Jana Nayagan and Avatar: Aang, The Last Airbender become victims of piracy even before they got an official release, Sreeju Sudhakaran looks back at some of the major Indian movies that were impacted by pre-release leaks.
'It makes law-making on the part of the state governments much more difficult and throws up bottlenecks as governors are not acting on bills.'
The Tamil Nadu government has argued in the Supreme Court that Governor R N Ravi's repeated withholding of assent to bills passed by the state legislative assembly would lead to the failure of the democratic system in India. The top court has questioned the delay by the Governor in granting assent to several bills passed by the state assembly and asked why governors should wait for parties to move the court with their grievances. The court has also said that the Governor cannot refer bills passed by the legislature and re-adopted by it for presidential assent.
Dravida Munetra Kazhagam President M Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi was on Thursday reelected to Rajya Sabha with Congress support from Tamil Nadu after a contest with actor Vijayakanth's Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam candidate.
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam supremo Jayalalithaa was acquitted on Monday by the Karnataka high court in the 19-year-old disproportionate assets case, a verdict that is sure to put her back in the Tamil Nadu chief minister's seat.
Despite India's electric passenger vehicle market experiencing an 83.6% year-on-year surge in FY26, new foreign entrants VinFast and BYD have significantly outpaced Tesla, which struggles with high import duties, a limited retail footprint, and a lack of local manufacturing commitment.
Tamil superstar Ajith Kumar escaped unhurt after crashing his car during a practice session for the upcoming Dubai 24 Hours race. The 53-year-old actor, who launched his racing team Ajith Kumar Racing in September last year, is participating in the event alongside teammates Mathieu Detry, Fabian Duffieux, and Cameron McLeod. The race is scheduled to be held on January 11 and 12. The official Instagram page of Ajith Kumar Racing shared a video of the incident. In the short clip, Ajith's car is seen crashing into the barriers at high speed. In the next shot, the actor is seen getting out of the vehicle, seemingly without any injury.
Opposition parties are expected to announce their joint vice-presidential candidate, potentially leading to a 'south versus south' contest. Meetings and discussions have been held to finalize the candidate, with names from Tamil Nadu being considered. The opposition aims to field a non-political figure with national standing.
Several opposition parties on Wednesday decided to jointly oppose the delimitation provisions in the Constitution amendment bill in Parliament, even as they reiterated support for women's reservation, with Mallikarjun Kharge alleging the move is politically motivated.
There is no alternative for the party and the state to wait for CM Jaya to return home as CM Jaya, and make her call, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Tamil Nadu assembly on Monday adopted a resolution to urge the Centre and the President to fix a timeframe for state governors to approve bills adopted by the respective houses.
The BJP's MoSha leadership are past masters in encouraging defections from their allies if it helped their party capture the chief minister's chair. In Bihar, they are not sure if JD-U MPs and MLAs would be willing to cross over to the BJP if the Nitish leadership came on top -- and the NDA crossed the halfway mark together, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
He ruled out an electoral alliance with any party and said next year's Assembly poll will be a straight contest between his TVK and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
Actor Vijay, founder of the Tamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) party, has declared that his party will challenge the ruling DMK in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. In a general council meeting, Vijay criticized the DMK's dynasty politics, their handling of law and order, and women's safety. He also targeted the BJP-led central government over issues like the Waqf Bill, delimitation, and the three-language policy. Vijay promised his party's support to working classes, government employees, and vowed to oppose projects harmful to natural resources and agriculture. He assured 100% safety for women and strict law and order if TVK forms the government. The party passed resolutions opposing the Waqf Bill, delimitation, and the three-language policy, and also voiced support for the two-language policy, finding a permanent solution for fishermen's issues, and opposing the Parandur airport project.
The decision comes amid an assessment of potential security threats and follows standard protocol based on inputs from central security agencies.
Special Intensive Revision (SIR), the Election Commission's voters' list cleanup exercise, will commence in nine states and three Union territories from Tuesday.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said that the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Bharatiya Janata Party and all the alliance parties will contest the upcoming Vidhan Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu together under the National Democratic Alliance. The significant political development comes ahead of the TN Assembly election to be held in 2026,
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.
BJP-ruled states argued in the Supreme Court that governors and the President have autonomy in assenting to bills passed by state assemblies, asserting that courts cannot mandate assent.
Fishermen staged a unique protest on Friday at the Rameswaram jetty demanding that their boats be returned by the Sri Lankan authorities.
If the TVK joins the NDA, there is every likelihood of the AIADMK winning an absolute majority in the 234 seat assembly and wanting to form a stand-alone government. In turn, it could mean that the BJP especially and the TVK equally so, will want to restrict the AIADMK's seat share closer to the cut-off figure, if only to ensure that EPS won't get the absolute majority that he desires (if the NDA won, that is) and will have to settle for a coalition government, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Among major engagements in 2026 is the visit of the European Union leadership, chief guests at the Republic Day parade.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accused opposition parties of obstructing the passage of the women's reservation bill in Parliament, alleging they have crushed the dreams of women and prioritised selfish politics over national progress.
Like his father Karunanidhi and AIADMK rivals MGR and Jayalalithaa, Stalin would like to confine his real political work to Tamil Nadu, and not want to take after the late Congress leader K Kamaraj and take up a national role, even if to create greater political space for son Udhayanidhi, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Protesters demanded a permanent solution for holding the sport and raised slogans that an ordinance was only a temporary measure.
Actor Kamal Haasan launched Makkal Needhi Miam at a public meeting in Madurai in 2018.
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam chief Vijay launched his state-wide campaign in Tiruchirappalli, encountering an audio glitch. He criticized both the central government and the DMK government in Tamil Nadu, stating his intention to serve the people, not to amass wealth.
In many ways, this is only the beginning -- of a new chapter in India's nuclear story, and of a future where its vast thorium reserves could finally power its ambitions.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has welcomed the Supreme Court's ruling that state governors must give assent to bills passed by state assemblies, calling it a 'historic' victory for all state governments in India. The court's decision came after the Governor of Tamil Nadu, R N Ravi, withheld assent to several bills passed by the state legislature. The court found that the governor's actions were in violation of the Indian Constitution, which mandates that governors must act on the advice of the council of ministers. The ruling is seen as a significant step towards strengthening the federal structure of India.
