The proposed visit of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse to Sanchi next week -- to lay the foundation of a Buddhist University -- is mired in controversy with the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam strongly opposing the visit.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday denied allegations of some pro-Tamil leaders, including Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Vaiko that party leader Sushma Swaraj had invited Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse for an official event in Madhya Pradesh on September 21.
The Jayalalithaa-led All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Wednesday retained the Sankarankoil (SC) asssembly constituency, with party nominee S Muthuselvi defeating Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam candidate Jawahar Suryakumar by a massive margin of 68,744 votes. Muthuslevi polled 94,964 votes against Suryakumar's 26,220.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazagham on Monday named two party nominees for the Rajya Sabha election and announced that the third seat was being allotted to ally Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
Thursday's protests across Tamil Nadu was less pro-Cauvery and more anti-Modi in character and content -- including in it various development projects in the state that are perceived as 'environmentally unfriendly' and hence 'anti-Tamil', says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Making it clear that the MDMK will vote against government in the confidence motion, its leader Vaiko said the party will issue a three-line whip. Those who defy the whip, he said, will be disqualified.
Governor Banwarilal Purohit administered the oath of office and secrecy to 68-year old Stalin, for whom this would be the first stint as CM
Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam leader Vijayakant is inclined to lead a Third Front to contest the April 13 assembly polls with the Left parties and Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam to be the likely constituents, DMDK sources said on Thursday
Opposition parties in Tamil Nadu, led by All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, on Tuesday appealed to President Pratibha Patil to give consent for use of Tamil as the official language in Madras high court before attending the World Classical Tamil Conference in Coimbatore this week.
Farmers and opposition parties in Tamil Nadu on Monday staged rail roko agitation at various places in the state demanding the Centre to constitute the Cauvery Management Board immediately.
Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday offered worship at the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara in the wee hours near Tirupati.
Marumalarchi Dravida Munntera Kazhagam General Secretary Vaiko on Friday said repeated attacks on Indian fishermen, allegedly by the Sri Lankan Navy, has made the livelihood of over one crore fishermen in Tamil Nadu quite uncertain.
Having burnt his fingers with MGR very badly in the past and later with Vaiko, it suited the DMK chief, when disgruntled cadres upset with Stalin's choice for lower-rung party positions, began gravitating towards another member of the DMK's 'first family', says N Sathiya Moorthy
Leaders from different political parties raised the issue of the gruesome murder and rape of a veterinary doctor in Telangana in Parliament on Monday.
The actor said he took the decision after founders of Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, Vaiko and Thol Thirumavalavan respectively, and Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi leader T Velmurugan asked him to consider withdrawing from the programme.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and other right-wing outfits had strongly objected to the paintings which had portrayed the trishul, a symbol of Hinduism and 'Bharat Mata', in an inappropriate manner.
Rescuers have been engaged in digging another borewell since Sunday to reach an appropriate depth to get to the boy and now a heavy drilling machine of German make has been deployed to expedite the efforts.
She recited a Kashmiri verse, which was part of a poem by Sahitya Akademi award winner Pandit Dinanath Koul. She rendered the verse in both Kashmiri and Hindi. Besides, the minister quoted woman Tamil poet Avvaiyar, Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar, a verse from Raghuvamsa by Kalidasa, as well as late finance minister Arun Jaitley while talking about the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
The film has run into trouble with pro-Tamil outfits.
Various opposition leaders in Tamil Nadu welcomed Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's conviction by a Bangalore special court in the disproportionate assets case and urged police to maintain law and order.
As political rivals clamour to retain their pan-Tamil credentials, the BJP may use the 'nationalist' card to even the odds in its favour, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
After MDMK leader Vaiko, Tamil film directors Seeman and Ameer were on Frdiay arrested on the charge of making inflamatory speeches during a rally taken out by the cinema industry in support of Sri Lankan Tamils at Rameswaram on October 19.
Pattali Makkal Katchi founder Dr S Ramadoss on Tuesday met Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi and expressed concern over the killing of innocent Tamils in Sri Lanka. The Centre should not be a silent spectator to the suffering of Tamils in Sri Lanka, Ramadoss told Gandhi.The Sri Lankan Tamil issue has come to the forefront of national politics after Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani participated in a rally organised by Vaiko in New Delhi last week.
He claimed that a couple of days ago Karunanidhi had reportedly said in Thanjavur that the award was more advantageous to Tamil Nadu than to Karnataka.
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Thursday expelled two dissident lawmakers of the party, L Ganesan and Gengee N Ramachandran, who defied the party whip and voted in favour of the trust motion moved by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the Lok Sabha on July 22.
The Centre should move in this direction, he said in a statement, reacting to the Supreme Court's judgment, making all laws incorporated under the Ninth Schedule after 1973, subject to judicial scrutiny.
Allaying apprehensions expressed by political parties in Tamil Nadu, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday assured that the Centre will not provide Sri Lanka with "lethal offensive military hardware".
MDMK chief Vaiko, in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said Tamils in Tamil Nadu and all over the world were 'terribly' concerned about the safety, security and normal life of the Tamil population in the island.
The incident reportedly took place at Salem during the actor-politician's visit to participate in a consultative meeting there for the May 16 Tamil Nadu assembly polls.
The Congress and DMK are in alliance in Tamil Nadu.
AIADMK supremo and Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa constituted a six-member committee on Monday to hold seat-sharing discussions with alliance parties for assembly polls in Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and Kerala.
'Whenever a new film of his releases, he uses politics to hype his film.' 'Her party can manage for a short period without Jayalalithaa as the chief minister but if her absence is for a long term, the AIADMK will start crumbling and disintegrating.' 'What keeps the DMK going despite its corrupt image is it is a democratic party in comparison to the AIADMK... Also, many social welfare measures in Tamil Nadu were brought in by the DMK. So they do have a place in the political scene despite corruption.' Gnani Sankaran, the well-known political analyst, discusses the fallout of Jayalalithaa's conviction on Tamil Nadu politics with Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com
The revived factionalism in the AIADMK, if not curbed now, has the potential to split the party vertically, warns N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Indo-Sri Lanka joint statement issued at the conclusion of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse's visit to India is "biased against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eeelam," Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief Vaiko said in Chennai Sun.
'Those in the BJP are more keen to make India Hindia!' says MDMK Chairman L.Ganesan.
A two-judge bench upheld the validity of section 14 of POTA, which made it mandatory for every person to divulge knowledge about terrorist activities to the police immediately.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday announced the formation of a seven-party rainbow alliance for the April 24 Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu, in its first-ever such electoral venture in the state where the turf has been largely dominated by Dravida Munetra Kazhagam and All India Anna Dravida Munetra Kazhagam.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has made application to the POTA Review Committee.
The Supreme Court was hearing a petition that said the legislation interfered with the fundamental rights of the people, especially the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under article 19 of the Constitution.
