The Tamil Nadu unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday announced that it would contest alone in the urban civic polls slated to be held on February 19, even while asserting that its alliance with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in the state remained intact.
'Even though we are very religious and God fearing, we do not subscribe to the kind of Hindutva they practise, a very hierarchical, Brahmanical, Hindutva.'
A bench comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde and justices R Subhash Reddy and A S took note of the submission of the main opposition party of the state that speaker has not been taking any decision on the MLAs for last three years and issued notices to him, assembly secretary and 11 lawmakers including O Panneerselvam.
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general council meeting on Monday revived the general secretary post, and picked Edappadi K Palaniswami as the interim GS.
Karunanidhi, 94, died at the Kauvery hospital on Tuesday following prolonged illness.
When Mr Rangaswamy began making threatening noises (he could have swapped the BJP's six MLAs with the DMK's six and formed the government with the outside help of the Congress and Independents), the BJP immediately named nominated MLAs.
Sandhya Ravishankar describes the thorny relationship between the two political titans of Tamil Nadu, M Karunanidhi and J Jayalalithaa, both now part of the ages.
The chief minister still has time to repair the damage but he will have to act all-round, both at the government and party levels, suggests N Sathiya Moorthy.
Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan has been given the additional charge of Puducherry.
A girl who appeared for NEET and aspired to pursue medical education died by suicide at a village in Ariyalur District, the second such death within two days in Tamil Nadu, with the incident seeing a repeat of the main opposition AIADMK hitting out at the DMK regime, while chief minister M K Stalin on Tuesday vowed to continue the legal fight to remove the test.
'We walked into the well of the House because we had no choice.' 'They were not listening to us. They were throttling democracy.'
Tiruvarur is one of the worst-hit districts in the Cauvery delta region of Tamil Nadu due to severe cyclonic storm Gaja in November, 2018.
In Tamil Nadu, though reformist spiritual giant Sri Ramanujacharya was a crusader against discrimination who nurtured equality almost a millenium ago, the broad canvas of social justice had only an occasional place for him.
Will acting LG Soundararajan invite N Rangaswamy to form a government or recommend President's rule, so close to the assembly election, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
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.
The revived factionalism in the AIADMK, if not curbed now, has the potential to split the party vertically, warns N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The financial situation of Tamil Nadu is much worse than it was in 2016.' 'The finance minister's is a horrendous job.' 'I am certainly not going to ask for it.'
The Bills adopted in 2017 for the same purpose during the AIADMK regime did not get the President's assent.
The by-elections to 18 assembly constituencies will decide if the ruling AIADMK remains in power or not.
Police later let the legislators off after a brief detention at a marriage hall. Stalin demanded the dismissal of the AIADMK government over the issue of the alleged pay-offs.
'The Congress can exist without (someone from) the Nehru-Gandhi family being its president.'
Though EPS has sworn peace for now, or so it seems, his camp is said to be considering the possibility of calling an early meeting of the party's general council, to get a mandate in his favour before things went out of control. Ground-level indications are that OPS had lost his limited base, which alone had forced him to patch up with the other, reportedly at the instance of the BJP ally at the Centre, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Congress government in the Union Territory will have to prove its majority in the assembly on February 22 with Lt Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Thursday ordering the floor test, hours after assuming charge vowing to function in accordance with the Constitution.
'Just tell me who gave you the money and how much. I won't tell anyone that you told me,' the policemen tells the young lady voter. 'You think they give their name and address when they give you money?' she replies.
Sharad Pawar reckons that the NCP has value as a united, going concern, not as a gaggle of leaders in search of followers, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
'The honourable prime minister virtually handpicked me for the Amritsar East seat.' 'Amit Shahji announced that if I am elected, the whole of Punjab will be drugs free.'
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.
'If Kerala votes back the LDF, if Tamil Nadu brings the DMK and if Bengal votes for the Trinamool, we will project a formidable opposition to the BJP.'
In an age when the electorate is increasingly impatient and changes governments every 5 years, how did the Tamil Nadu chief minister beat anti-incumbency?
The candidate is from the DMK's ruling family, and the sky is the limit -- for both expenses and expectations.
Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam led the strike against the Centre.
'With the deaths of Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi, the BJP and Congress thought that they had a chance.' 'They have conceded that power is with the Dravidian parties.'
For now, the BJP's strategy for Khushbu seems to be one of denial -- denying the rival Congress in the state and also at the national-level a Muslim voice acceptable to Hindu audiences and TV news-watchers. This is much less than the induction of DMK veterans like Duraiswamy and Selvam, who still have a greater chances of winning assembly seats,, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Counting of votes is underway for four Lok Sabha and eight assembly Constituencies, spread across six states and one Union Territory where by-elections were held on Saturday.
M Karunanidhi was a masterful practitioner of modern-day politics, wielding considerable influence beyond his own state, in the corridors of power in New Delhi, for a long time and sewing up alliances with both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The DMK combine has won 37 of the 38 LS constituencies in Tamil Nadu, and bagged 13 of the 22 assembly bypolls. What swept away the AIADMK-BJP alliance in the southern state was not dravidian ideology but job loss and graft bias, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
His time will be divided 50-50, he says, between his autorickshaw and his work as mayor.
A relatively quiet foray by actor Vijay into politics through the TN rural local body elections last month has captured the attention of many, reports Shine Jacob.
Vaiko's stock dwindles as the DMK's poaching of his cadre continues unabated. R Ramasubramanian reports from Chennai.
