'We cannot capture the mind space of today's youth by evoking past sacrifices. Politics is about hope; hope for the future. The Congress hankers about the past too much.'
Jeyanandh Dhivakaran, son of Sasikala's brother, V Dhivaharan, is making headlines in Tamil Nadu politics, reports Gireesh Babu.
Truth be acknowledged, Rajinikanth is not known for wanting to leave his comfort zone to take the politico-electoral plunge, even if it meant his becoming the chief minister of a state that has conferred Tamil cinema's superstardom on him over the past 25 years. Today, his fans belong to the younger generation all right, but their numbers are far fewer than their counterparts in the '90s. They are not devoid of personal ambitions and agendas, unlike what Rajinikanh wants them to be, if he and they were to enter politics, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'That secularism in India is at risk is alarming for someone like me. I'm born secular,' Anjolie Ela Menon, the well-known painter, tells Pavan Lall.
The truce, even if it is not permanence peace, will come under stress and test during the pending polls to rural local bodies in nine revenue districts and urban polls across the state, including those for 16 municipal corporations, starting with Chennai, the oldest and largest, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Aditi Phadnis and Archis Mohan take a state by state takedown of the party's chances in the poll-bound states.
She left behind a note, saying that she dreamt of becoming a doctor but the questions in NEET were too difficult for her to even understand.
Raja clarified that he had only watched clips of the movie on his mobile phone and said he did not have the patience to sit through a two-and-a-half hour film.
Tamil superstar Rajinikanth may have been wooed by the Bharatiya Janata Party and G K Vasan, who broke away from the Congress, but newly appointed Congress chief in Tamil Nadu E V K S Elangovan feels he should not enter politics.
Eying a prominent role in the next government at the Centre, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Tuesday promised to extend populist schemes like distribution of free mixies, grinders, fans, milch cows and goats across the country in its Lok Sabha manifesto.
The Left has ideologically become irrelevant globally, says the finance minister.
With political parties in Tamil Nadu stepping up pressure on Centre for boycott of CHOGM at Colombo this month, Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram met DMK chief M Karunanidhi in Chennai on Saturday and said no decision has been taken as yet on Prime Minister's visit to the meet.
Congress's K R Ramesh Kumar will be the speaker of Karnataka's Vidhana Soudha (assembly), while the deputy speaker will be appointed from the JD-S.
The NPR data will be used for schemes such as Ayushman Bharat, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Ujjvala and Saubhagya for identifying the intended beneficiaries.
The notion that the BJP gained its increased tally by wiping out the Left parties and the Congress is completely misleading. Equally misleading is the belief that the TMC held its ground in all its existing seats. A little more than a fifth of the seats Mamata Banerjee's party had won in 2016 was lost to the BJP this time.
Opposing invitation to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa for Narendra Modi's swearing-in as the prime minister, Bharatiya Janata Party ally Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Saturday announced a black flag demonstration against the head of the island republic in Delhi on May 26.
Fears of the Congress not having a credible face, after the death of its three-time chief minister Sheila Dikshit last July, and ceding its vote bank to the Aam Aadmi Party came true with the Arvind Kejriwal-led party capturing the space once occupied by the grand old party.
Amid the raging controversy over a conversion bid by some Sangh Parivar outfits, Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah on Sunday asserted that such incidents would not derail the party-led National Democratic Alliance government from its development agenda.
Two days ago, Jayalalithaa had cancelled her visit at the eleventh hour saying that she was unwell and hence, giving former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu centrestage in talks with Kalam.
The prime minister highlighted the gains made during his last four years vis-a-vis the previous governments to suggest that he has lived up to the promise of hope he had offered to the electorate in 2014.
The presence of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa was not the only reason why Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa stayed away from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Modi also said that presently a 'new trend' is being seen in the country where protests are based on creating doubts through misinformation while union ministers urged farmers not to have any misconceptions about the three agriculture reform legislations.
The 65-year-old Stalin's elevation comes about three weeks after the death of his father and party president M Karunanidhi.
Verifiable 'distress-sharing' of available water may still be the way out of the Cauvery water row, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram is Congress nominee from Maharashtra for the biennial elections to Rajya Sabha while senior leaders Kapil Sibal and Jairam Ramesh have been named from Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka respectively.
Why did Kamal Haasan name the leaders he did?
"Unless we hear from herself I am not going to believe any story that has been put up quoting her. She is a part of our United National Progressive Alliance and will continue to remain one," he said.
The road for the Opposition is full of 'ifs' and 'buts', reports Sunil Gatade.
Will the AIADMK acknowledge the role of CAA and the anti-CAA protests, both inside the state and outside, as among the causes for the current electoral reversal, as many in the party now want? It is unlikely to be so, but then the pressure will increase on the leadership to reassess the BJP alliance at one level and the 'blind support' for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's controversial policies on the other, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The CPI said it did not understand why the government had to give som much land at low price for a private player.
Senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar also said that an alliance similar to the one stitched up in Bihar is needed at the national level for the next Lok Sabha elections.
Exhorting her supporters to ensure a "complete win" for the party so that the United Progressive Alliance could be ousted from the Centre, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Thursday said her party would fight the next Lok Sabha polls on the plank of peace, prosperity and progress.
Polling will be held in all 13 seats in Punjab and an equal number of seats in Uttar Pradesh, nine in West Bengal, eight seats each in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, four in Himachal Pradesh, three in Jharkhand and the lone seat Chandigarh.
Shashank Manohar is all set to once again become the Board of Control for Cricket in India president with the ruling Anurag Thakur faction as well as Sharad Pawar group projecting him as the consensus candidate for the post left vacant by Jagmohan Dalmiya's demise.
Modi's NDA is good enough to give a psychological boost to the once 'untouchable' BJP and Modi but if the NDA doesn't get a majority on its own, then walking the last mile will be the greatest challenge of this election for Modi, says Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com
Yechury has dropped enough hints that a fight is in the offing at the Hyderabad conclave in April, where any member may move an amendment to the draft on the party's electoral line. Archis Mohan reports.
The great Indian election is over and now the wait for the results is shrinking with every passing moment. Though exit polls hint at a cakewalk for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his National Democratic Alliance, there are some battles which will be keenly observed on the result day.
CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury was in Chennai on Saturday and AIADMK sources said Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa could be sounded as convenor for the proposed Third Front. Aditi Phadnis reports
'Those in the BJP are more keen to make India Hindia!' says MDMK Chairman L.Ganesan.
