The Chinese aren't after territory. Their target is our national will, morale and the sense of autonomy we feel in making our strategic choices. They are attacking India and the Modi government at their weakest point, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
The party unanimously elected veteran Duraimurugan as general secretary and senior leader T R Baalu as treasurer. Former Telecom Minister A Raja and seasoned party leader K Ponmudi were elected as deputy general secretaries.
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.
In a strongly-worded letter to Joint Parliamentary Committee chief P C Chacko, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader T R Baalu has said the committee's report on the 2G scam and the Congress leader's attempts to rush for the passage of it did not exactly inspire confidence.
18 leaders from 14 parties said it is unfortunate that the government has 'unleashed a misleading campaign to malign the combined opposition' and blaming it for the continued disruption of Parliament proceedings.
The Modi government wants to have a smooth relationship with the DMK government.
'Everybody knows Baalu and all the trouble he caused in UPA-I. The AIADMK thinks it can win with the distribution of money. It may work in some parts, but not everywhere.' Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar visits Tamil Nadu's rice bowl where a former Cabinet minister is fighting for political survival.
According to state government sources, not only did the governor insert some corrections, but he also initialled the final draft after those corrections had been made, reveals N Sathiya Moorthy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not present at the all-party meeting convened by the government.
The DMK parliamentary party appears to be a house divided, reports R Rajagopalan.
The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the Constitution amendment bill to restore the power of states to make their own OBC lists after a thaw in the logjam as Opposition parties backed the legislation but demanded the removal of the 50 per cent cap on reservation, with many of them also calling for a caste-based census.
As the Opposition held its first meeting on the Presidential polls and names of Farooq Abdullah and Gopalkrishna Gandhi also cropped up, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party reached out to several parties across the political spectrum to build a consensus choice with senior party leader and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh speaking to Sharad Pawar, Mallikarjun Kharge (Congress), Mamata Banerjee (Trinamool Congress), Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party) and Naveen Patnaik (Biju Janata Dal).
With 200 MPs out of 785 above the age of 65, there is a serious shadow of COVID-19 looming over the monsoon session Of Parliament.
Tamil Nadu has been reeling under acute water crisis stress for the past several months as Chennai's Porur Lake, one of the main sources of water, has reached its lowest level.
Chowdhury said the family faces threat to life and the cover by the elite security organisation should not have been withdrawn.
Opposition leaders also raised the issue of MPs not being allowed to visit Jammu and Kashmir after abrogation of its special status, whereas parliamentarians from Europe have been taken to the state, with Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury describing the EU delegation as 'bhade ke tattu' (hirelings).
The United Progressive Alliance government will suffer a set back if ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam doest not contain the infighting between T R Baalu, leader of DMK parliamentary party, and Union Minister S S Palanimanickam, DMK's five time MP from Thanjavur constituency, over the new railway line in Thanjavur.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leaders T R Baalu and M K Stalin on Thursday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and are believed to have discussed the issue of selection of a candidate for the presidential election. The meeting lasted for around 5 to 7 minutes and was described by the DMK leaders as a courtesy call.
The Congress hit out at the government, alleging that it was treating the EC as its "subservient tool".
The Dravida Munettra Kazhagam is hopeful of getting the railway portfolio in the next reshuffle, say our sources in Delhi. Buzz is that the DMK had specifically asked for railways even in 2004, which did not happen.
DMK leader T R Baalu has given the notice for a special discussion, saying the reports appearing in the media showed that the loss figure in the 2G issue had been "inflated exponentially".
Members of Parliament from the Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam have threatened to forcefully occupy the office of Telugu Desam Party inside Parliament house next week.
Stalin's sister and Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi will for the first time try her luck in the Lok Sabha.
Opposition parties on Tuesday asked the government to call an all-party meeting to resolve the current impasse in Parliament, while sticking to their demands for a discussion on Pegasus snooping issue and a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the matter.
In a joint statement, leaders of eight opposition parties extended their support to the farmers who are protesting the three farm laws.
Senior Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader T R Baalu on Saturday night indicated that his party could review its decision to pull its ministers out of the Union Cabinet if the Congress relents on its stand over sharing of seats in the upcoming assembly polls in Tamil Nadu
The Opposition alleged that without any provocation from the Opposition, "outsiders who were not part of Parliament security were brought in to manhandle the Opposition leaders and members, including women Parliamentarians who were only protesting against the Government's conduct, highhandedness and muzzling of the voice".
The Opposition on Wednesday hardened its stand on the Pegasus spyware issue with 14 parties unitedly demanding a debate in Parliament in the presence of the prime minister or the home minister and a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the matter.
Pawar will be accompanied by Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury, Communist Party of India leader D Raja and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP T R Baalu.
The first batch of 2,400 Tamils lodged in camps for internally displaced persons in Sri Lanka were sent back home on Thursday as assured by the Sri Lankan government, said Dravida Munnetra Kazhgam Member of Parliament T R Baalu, who led a team of Tamil Nadu MPs to the island nation.
The Defence Minister said the government is committed to protect the sanctity of Parliament.
Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways TR Baalu has said the new toll policy has been finalised by the government, while the toll rules are under formulation.
The Supreme Court on Monday threatened to issue arrest warrants against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, Union Transport Minister T R Baalu and four others for failing to respond to a contempt notice on the Sethusamudram bandh row.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Friday met Congress parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi, seeking her party's cooperation for smooth functioning of the Parliament session beginning June 17.
The Hindutva social media continues to present the DMK especially as anti-god, anti-Hindu and anti-Brahmin. The strategy did not work in the past, it has not worked in the present, and would not work in the future, as a massive vote-getter, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar briefed the leaders on the latest situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban captured power there last week.
The party had quit the NDA citing differences with the BJP's Tamil Nadu unit.
Likening the situation in the country to a "social emergency", Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday made it clear that the nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19 cannot be lifted in one go on April 14, asserting that the priority of his government is to "save each and every life".
Amid the coronavirus outbreak, various states have announced partial or complete lockdown and also there is increased focus on social distancing to curb the spread of the deadly virus which has infected over 400 people in the country.
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