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.
'...especially pressure on the rupee, the current account deficit, and foreign exchange outflows.' 'The key question over the next several months is whether the government can prevent external turbulence from feeding into domestic economic pessimism.'
Stalin has given due respect to seniority in the pecking order, but has also taken into consideration the demands of individual ministries and the suitability of individuals, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The DMK may get a little more than 50% of the minority vote.' 'The AIADMK always gets over 10% of the minority vote.'
'A recent compromise by the state government is accepting NEET exams for medical entrance.'
'The alliance led by the DMK is starting with 15% votes while the AIADMK is starting from scratch.' 'Minority votes may be crucial'
''He had given tools to fight all forms of homogenisation.'
'Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Bengal can be the game changers of 2024.'
This time round, even 'petrol coupons' were reportedly distributed for those attending campaign rallies, especially those addressed by top leaders, cutting across party lines. If this owed to the rising cost of petrol and diesel -- which is a poll issue this time -- there were the customary coupons for 'quarter' (liquor bottle size) and non-vegetarian biryani. Some media reports claimed that some of these 'crowds' attended more than one political rally on the same day in the last week, and at times for rival political parties in adjoining constituencies or districts, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
