'Sometimes we use political pressure and sometimes political acumen to get what we want.'
At 70, going by hospital records made public, most age and health-related arguments put out against super-star Rajinikanth's entry into politics, before he withdrew citing a 2016 kidney-transplant, hold good for Sasikala, too, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
For V K Sasikala, election as the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam legislature party leader to pave her way to become the chief minister, marks continuance of the legacy of late Jayalalithaa who also held the two posts, allowing her to wield complete control over the party and the government.
'A recent compromise by the state government is accepting NEET exams for medical entrance.'
B V Acharya, one of the senior most advocates in Karnataka, resigned as the advocate general on Wednesday. There is no one reason been given for the resignation and the former two time AG also does not spell out the real reason for him quitting.
'No one was allowed to meet Jaya. Whoever came, would be briefed by Sasikala's relatives that she was 'all right',' Dindigul Srinivasan said.
"Since the central government had assisted in the treatment of Jayalalithaa, it has a responsibility to unravel the mystery surrounding her death... Therefore, using its authority, it should immediately order a CBI probe into the matter," he said.
The BJP continuing to look at the Dravidian polity through the religious prism has not worked in Tamil Nadu whereas it has yielded political and electoral results across much of the rest of the country, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'OPS is the first person in history to ransack his own party office.'
No one in the Tamil Nadu government really seems to know much about its flagship freebie scheme, discovers A Ganesh Nadar
The Tamil Nadu voter may not be in the mood to test new talent, not when the state and the people are going through unprecedented and unanticipated crises, of which coronavirus is only the first. All of it boils down to an election between the ruling AIADMK and the Opposition DMK next year, with small-timers, had-been parties and promised parties left on the sidelines, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Stalin said that even in Gujarat the vice-chancellors are not appointed by the governor but the State.
The fracas between Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam on Monday over who will be projected as the CM candidate in next year's assembly polls not only points to a possibility of another vertical split in Tamil Nadu's ruling party but will also come as sweet music for the opposition DMK which in the past stood to gain from the AIADMK's squabbles, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Thursday allotted six constituencies to ally Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi for the April 6 assembly elections in Tamil Nadu.
Tamil Nadu minister Sellur K Raju said the death of Amma was a huge loss.
In the post Jayalalithaa Tamil Nadu, Sasikala is the person to be watched in the coming days, weeks and months, writes R Ramasubramanian.
He belongs to the dominant Mudukulathor community and has risen from humble origins, having run a tea stall at his home town Periyakulam which is still being operated by his family.
There was a time the huge sculptures created by martial arts man Shihan Hussaini stood like giants on the terrace of his house facing the sea. Today, high rise apartments block them from looking at the sea but that has not diminished the spirit of the man, for the statues grew bigger and bigger and also sensational. Shobha Warrior talks to the martial arts expert and artist.
Clad in black shirts, AIADMK coordinator Pannneerselvam and co-coordinator Palaniswami led a silent march
In his first poll rally for the April 6 assembly polls, Modi rooted for the Tamil language, culture and invoked the welfare legacies of M G Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa, late chief ministers and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam icons.
Facing the opposition benches, it is the 11th portrait to adorn the House.
Asking her to keep away from the party, senior party leader K P Munusamy asserted that under no circumstances could Sasikala enter the AIADMK.
TTV Dinakaran could be in more trouble as I-T officials have found a connection between him and Jaya TV and other Jayalalithaa companies, reports Aditi Phadnis.
Jayalalithaa's demise is seen as a personal loss for the 59-year-old Sasikala who was probably one of the few occupants of the Chief Minister's Veda Nilayam residence at Poes Garden besides assistants and officials.
Prison authorities had formally released her on January 27 after she completed the four-year jail term in a Rs 66 crore disproportionate assets case.
Observers are of the view that it would be a challenge for any leader to match their charisma and political influence.
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.
K Madhavan launched MGR Jayalalithaa DMK Kazhagam after paying his respects to Jayalalithaa and MGR at their memorials at the Marina beac
Ranveer returns to Instagram... Jim shares his look from his next series...
Deepa filed her papers before polling officer Pravin Nair after paying respects at the memorial of Jayalalithaa.
Murders, miracles, mission IIT, Sukanya Verma suggests everything you can catch on OTT this week.
Palaniswami and Paneerselvam joined to oust Dinakaran and EC cancelled R K Nagar by-election.
AIADMK leaders want Chinamma to succeed Amma as party general secretary, but it is not a done deal yet.
Sasikala's name is doing the rounds for the general secretary's job, but it is one thing for Sasikala to acquire power under Jayalalithaa's wing and quite another when the CM is somebody else, says Aditi Phadnis.
O Paneerselvam did not even sit in Jayalalithaa's office chamber and left her seat vacant in the assembly. This time Amma is not coming back and he has a large number of challenges awaiting him.
The message for 2024 is that the man on the street is not going to be euphoric if the G-20 crowns Modi as king-emperor for 2023, or if India sends its first man to space just ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Even a 'temple consecration' in Ayodhya, or a Uniform Civil Code, or both of them together, may not have enough electoral purchase if fuel and commodity prices are not rolled back, and money-in-the-pocket does not fatten, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Sasikala had contracted coronavirus on January 20 and was later admitted to the Bowring Hospital.
Her release, however, might be deferred to February 27, 2022 if she does not pay the 'in-default fine amount'. The information regarding this was revealed in a response by the Superintendent, Central Prison, Bengaluru to a Right to Information (RTI) inquiry.
A grim-faced Panneerselvam, who was also seen sporting a beard, was sworn in around 1.15 am by Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao at the Raj Bhavan amidst a scene of gloom.
Chief Minister M K Stalin on Tuesday launched a Rs 225.86 crore welfare assistance scheme here for Sri Lankan Tamil refugees living in camps in Tamil Nadu and alleged that the previous AIADMK regime was not concerned about them.
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