With election campaign ending in Tamil Nadu before it goes to polls on Thursday, N Sathiya Moorthy lists a few questions uppermost in the minds of voters.
The new entrants in Tamil Nadu politics, actor-turned-politicians Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan, have decided to stay away from the elections, reports T E Narasimhan.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has urged voters to 'take revenge' for the deletion of names from electoral rolls, alleging the BJP is behind the changes. She also addressed concerns about EVM tampering and the deployment of officers to other states.
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.
Raja said though the icon of the Dravidian movement, Thanthai Periyar stood for an independent Tamil Nadu, the DMK moved away from it.
Four and a half crore voters will decide the fate of 2,773 candidates.
Since 2004, 12 states have added 160 million people to their rolls.
The Rajya Sabha elections saw several candidates elected unopposed, including Sharad Pawar and Ramdas Athawale, while Bihar, Odisha, and Haryana prepare for contested elections.
The BJP has nominated Sanjay Bhatia, its former MP from Karnal, for the upcoming Rajya Sabha poll from Haryana. This decision comes as two Rajya Sabha seats in Haryana are set to fall vacant, prompting elections scheduled for March 16.
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.
GSM, which is potentially eyeing a Hong Kong listing and was recently valued at $20 billion, operates on a distinct model -- it owns the e-taxis and employs the drivers, while also supplying cars to independent drivers or fleet operators.
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.
With the assembly elections in fast approaching, the campaign juggernaut has started rolling through the streets of Tamil Nadu. While the 2G-scam hit Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam is doing everything it can to regain its popularity, Jayalalitha's whirlwind campaign is only gathering more steam. Rediff.com analyses the situation in poll-bound Tamil Nadu as election fever grips the state.
Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Wednesday appointed Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M K Stalin as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and invited him to form the government after he staked claim, submitting a letter on his election as legislature party leader.
'The BJP will be the ruling party.'
Palaniswami, Tamil Nadu's new CM was among the senior ministers who had proximity to Jayalalithaa.
M K Alagiri, the disgruntled son of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam patriarch M Karunanidhi, has reached out to the Bharatiya Janata Party with an offer of support in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Governor S S Barnala accepted the resignation of Karunanidhi and his council of ministers (with effect) from this afternoon, a Raj Bhavan communique said. Accepting the resignation, Barnala has asked the 87 year-old leader and his colleagues to continue functioning in the present capacity as he appreciated the advice and co-operation offered by the DMK president
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.
Pon Radhakrishnan also stated that Naxals, Maoists and Muslim extremists may have intruded into some of the media houses too.
'It is like, all crimes are done by north Indians and it is difficult to track them, so get their details. This sort of profiling, I have not seen anywhere.' Chennai activist Madhumita Dutta speaks out!
For Prime Minister Narendra Modi to dig up the perceived past of the DMK rival, now under a new leader in M K Stalin, may not gel with the voters, both old and new. If they are still going to vote for the AIADMK-BJP combine, it will be for entirely different reasons, and despite Modi's poll speeches, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Since the IPKF's withdrawal from Sri Lanka in March 1990, the LTTE's once-powerful influence in Tamil Nadu has faded.
While the DMK depends on a 'silver sieve' of welfare schemes to stay in power, its support is slowly draining away under the weight of poor governance, corruption, and voters who are no longer satisfied with benefits alone and now want basic administration to work, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Tamil Nadu has formed special teams to monitor drug manufacturers after deaths of infants in Madhya Pradesh were linked to a cough syrup made by a Tamil Nadu-based company. Inspections are being conducted at pharmaceutical firms across the state.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan questioned the attempts being made to implement the SIR in poll-bound Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal while the Constitutional validity of the Bihar SIR process is under consideration by the Supreme Court.
For a party that has adopted the successful social re-engineering model from Gujarat, Rajasthan and across the rest of the 'Hindi belt' over the past decades, Tamil Nadu continues to remain a tricky customer, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The BJP doesn't have to do anything except nudge the AIADMK in one direction.'
Vijayakanth's DMDK may play a key role as Tamil Nadu's political parties scramble for allies to capture the state's 40 Lok Sabha seats.
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.
Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju announces the debate and vote on the no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will occur on March 9. The Budget Session's second part will also address important legislation and critical bills.
Tamil Nadu's electoral roll has been revised, resulting in the removal of 9.74 million voters following an enumeration exercise. The state's electoral roll now stands at 5.43 crore voters.
The Tamil Nadu government today decided to abolish Common Entrance Tests for admission to professional courses.
'The feeling is that Rajinikanth is pro-Modi than anti-Modi.'
'The financial situation of Tamil Nadu is much worse than it was in 2016.' 'The finance minister's is a horrendous job.' 'I am certainly not going to ask for it.'
The Tamil Nadu government has informed the Supreme Court that the Karur stampede, which resulted in 41 deaths, was caused by the "reckless and uncoordinated actions" of the TVK party's organizers and workers. The government's affidavit alleges an intentional delay by party leader Vijay, contributing to the tragedy.
The patient had a medical history of prolonged illness with "uncontrolled diabetes".
With the Tamil Nadu electorate having given him an unprecedented mandate that had eluded his father the late M Karunanidhi, Stalin has to prove his worth, ensuring at the same time that the Dravidian drag on the AIADMK's side does not open up space for the BJP to make inroads in the state, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
A keen contest is on the cards for the sixth seat in the biennial election.
'Tamil Nadu's youth bulge will soon be 70 per cent of the population, many of them smartphone-toting millennials looking for gains more tangible than what screen gods can give,' says Sunil Sethi.
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