Utter confusion prevails in the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu.
The arrest, the first of a sitting chief minister, came hours after the Delhi high court refused to grant protection to the AAP national convenor from any coercive action by the agency.
The Rajiv Gandhi assassination, investigation and trial were all jinxed in parts, recalls N Sathiya Moorthy.
Sandhya Ravishankar describes the thorny relationship between the two political titans of Tamil Nadu, M Karunanidhi and J Jayalalithaa, both now part of the ages.
'The temple's construction is the result of collective wisdom of some of the best brains in the country. Water and sacred soil from almost all pilgrimage sites in India, including Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kailash Mansarovar, Prayags (there are seven Prayags) and all 'puris' (seven holy towns in India, besides Ayodhya) have been used in the making of the temple'
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.
Dhapola's feat did not miss the attention of the BCCI secretary Jay Shah who termed it as one of the finest bowling performances of the tournament.
Will the EC would make an example of the RK Nagar by-election, either by ensuring free and fair polls or by countermanding the same, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
"Any patriotic person should discuss Indian politics within India. It does not suit the leader of any party to go abroad and discuss the country's politics and criticise the country. Rahul baba, you must remember that people of the country are watching it closely," Shah said.
Admitting that incidents of money distribution were occurring despite its strong measures for Wednesday's Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, the Election Commission warned for the second day that it may postpone elections in areas where the malpractice takes place.
'As the financier, she controls the party.'
Targeting the Congress, the PM said those who ruled Madhya Pradesh for a long time did nothing else other than corruption and crime.
With the Pradesh Congress committees passing resolution seeking Rahul Gandhi at the helm of All India Congress Committee, party General Secretary, Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday said such measures have no binding effect.
The chief minister may have Prime Minister Modi's backing.
The counting of votes for the assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry would be held on Thursday morning with trends expected early.
In a keenly watched outcome, counting of votes in the bye-elections to one constituency each in Tamil Nadu and Union Territory of Puducherry will be taken up on Thursday.
'For the Tamil Nadu protestors to openly ask popular film actor Vijay Sethupathi not to don Murali in 800 is a travesty in every sense. It may have given them a cause to tell the world, and the governments in New Delhi, Colombo and Chennai, that the Sri Lankan ethnic issue was still alive in the state -- more so, during the current run-up to two major events in the first half of 2021,' says N Sathiya Moorthy.
While people voted in a fifth round that will set the tone as this election rounds into the straight, and while Modi on the stump chews the cud of personal grievances and hackneyed promises that have long since passed their use-by date, there is a rogue wave rising -- what damage it will do, we will know 16 days from today, observes Prem Panicker.
AIADMK insiders see the very idea of an NDA conclave as a measure of the BJP's current electoral assessment, stemming from relative weakness in 2024 compared to 2014 and 2019. In their reckoning, the BJP now needs allies more than the other way round, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Deepa Gahlot lists Hindi biopics about Indian political leaders: Some worked, some did not, but they managed to avoid controversy.
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.
The situation is unlike any other legislation/ordinance that governments at the Centre and states had passed on earlier occasions after the higher judiciary had held certain laws, orders or decisions ultra vires of the Constitution, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
If Vijaykanth and his party stole the media thunder, which lingered in the viewers' mind even while watching Prime Minister Modi's thunderous campaign speech, the latter suffered also owing to visible 'disconnects', says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The film, which was released on May 5, has kicked up a political storm.
'The assessment of most people is that there is a stable economic and political environment in India and that is attractive to investors.'
Former IPL chairperson Lalit Modi was his usual outspoken self when he said it will be 'doomsday' for the Indian cricket if N Srinivasan gets re-elected as BCCI president at the Board's AGM on September 29.
'I'm pitching India for the strengths we offer, including the English language, engineers, doctors, nurses, professionals, innovative talent of startups.'
'Modi looks to be an effective, result-oriented, purposeful leader, focused on bringing greatness and glory to the nation.'
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So it is best for his critics to give up their sniping and supplement his efforts,' asserts B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant who served three prime ministers.
The DMK's Stalin, TN Minister D Jayakumar, the BJP's Pon Radhakrishnan... A clutch from the political class pay tribute to T N Seshan on his last journey. A Ganesh Nadar reports.
After Rahul's Bharat Jodo Yatra began criss-crossing the Hindi heartland, BJP leaders have revived their attacks on 'dynasty politics' and 'family rule' in the Congress, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Overall, the Thalaivi trailer is a convincing experience, says veteran Tamil Nadu politics watcher N Sathiya Moorthy.
According to sources in the Congress, eight legislators are likely to be sworn in as ministers along with them.
If the DMK under Stalin is unable to do well in the Lok Sabha elections, his personal and political standing in the party will be threatened. But if the party does well, Stalin is the next kingmaker to watch out for. T E Narasimhan and Aditi Phadnis report.
'Initially, we had 48 teams, now it has been enhanced to 133 teams: that is for every 10 to 12 villages, there is a team that is working round the clock.' '133 x 3, that is, given the 8-hour shifts.' 'They are monitored every hour, they are equipped with GPS -- everything is tracked live, real time, from the control room.'
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.
'Going by his political conduct over the past 15 years since first becoming chief minister, he has made enough enemies among equals as friends and followers.' 'They could gang up and that could mean a lot for AIADMK politics to handle,' says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu are centred on chief ministerial candidates of rival parties. When Sasikala cannot contest even a panchayat election for six years after her release, even if she were to have sympathetic backers even among apolitical voters, she does not have any 'transferrable vote-bank' even otherwise for a chief minister candidate of her choice, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Ajit Pawar wants to escape from the clutches of the investigative agencies.'
What does Udhayanidhi's induction as minister mean? For the DMK, it indicates the future course, direction and leadership. It is continuity with change, and change with continuity, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Sasikala definitely has an emotional advantage over the others, but there are very seasoned politicians with a strong support base.' 'For the time being, they may toe her line.'
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