The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the 10.5 per cent reservation provided to Vanniyars, a Most Backward Community (MBC) in Tamil Nadu, in government jobs and admission to educational institutions.
AIADMK leaders and supporters pay homage to J Jayalithaa on her 5th death anniversary.
A division bench, comprising Justices M Duraiswamy and Sundar Mohan, set aside an order of a single judge, which nullified the July 11 General Council (GC) meeting of the AIADMK.
The case of the two Shiv Sena factions for legitimacy and the party symbol, 'Bow and Arrow', is now before the Election Commission. Whichever way the EC findings go, the other can be expected to move the Supreme Court. They would need a final verdict before the parliamentary polls, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Palaniswami has won from Edappadi four times (1989, 1991, 2011 and 2016) and the region is among the strongholds of the ruling party.
The Madras high court on Wednesday set aside an order of the previous AIADMK regime to convert late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's residence, 'Veda Nilayam' in Chennai as a memorial.
Already, the party brass had passed a resolution against admitting her into the organisation and it was seconded by the party's district units across the state, Palaniswami said.
The meeting of the newly-elected MLAs to elect the legislature party leader, the second within three days, reportedly saw exchanges on who should lead the party in the House with one section pitching for Palaniswami and the other for coordinator O Panneerselvam.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's key ally in Tamil Nadu, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Wednesday slammed the saffron party alleging that it is anti-Tamil and claimed that the party could never grow in the state.
"In democracy, a political party cannot be stopped from functioning by sealing its office", observed the Supreme Court Monday as it dismissed the plea of ousted All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader O Panneerselvam (OPS) against the Madras high court order directing him to hand over the keys of party headquarter to party chief K Palaniswami.
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's dominant Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) faction on Friday asserted that the system of dual leadership that vested powers on coordinator O Panneerselvam (OPS) and joint coordinator EPS ceased to be in force, a day after the general council stood firm on the single leadership demand.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday asserted that not even a "speck of dust" fell on state Governor R N Ravi during a black flag protest against him in Mayiladuthurai and said the opposition All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's attempts to "do politics" over the matter will not fructify "as this is DMK rule."
Incidentally, Pannerselvam's call for unity also pertained to deposed AIADMK leader VK Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran.
'Tamil Nadu presents a challenge to the BJP and its politics.' 'DMK is making all efforts to resist the BJP.'
The NR Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam alliance on Monday emerged victorious in Puducherry Assembly polls.
The Justice A Arumughaswamy Commission of Inquiry that probed the circumstances leading to Jayalalithaa's death in 2016, in its concluding remarks said that V K Sasikala, the late Chief Minister's confidante, 'have to be found fault with and investigation is to be ordered'.
The Supreme Court on Monday said that it would hear on July 6 a plea filed by former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami challenging the Madras high court order staying the passing of any unannounced resolutions in the meeting of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general and executive councils concerning the issue of single leadership of the party.
Words and actions like those of R N Ravi and a vocal section of the state BJP have only added to Tamil fears and suspicions, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) interim general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) and ousted party leader O Panneerselvam on Tuesday moved the Madras high court against the sealing of the party headquarters by the Tamil Nadu government following violence there on July 11.
At the same time VK Sasikala, confidante of late party matriarch J Jayalalithaa is staking claim to the late leader's legacy.
The Tamil Nadu government saw an increase in foreign direct investment by 41.5 per cent during the April-December period.
O Panneerselvam should not be surprised if the current controversy that he has kicked off is used to rid him of the party coordinator's post, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Sometimes we use political pressure and sometimes political acumen to get what we want.'
The department of vigilance and anti-corruption in Tamil Nadu on Thursday carried out searches at over 20 premises and locations related to former All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam minister K C Veeramani, including at his native Jolarpettai in Thirupatthur district in connection with a disproportionate assets case, the police said.
Both the BJP and the Congress have banked on new and young faces, some of whom have been nominated by the parties for the first time.
Stalin called on Ravi at the Raj Bhavan here and urged him to expeditiously send the Bill to exempt Tamil Nadu from the purview of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for getting Presidential assent, an official release said.
Political observers are keen to see if the BJP will now be guided by its more firmly entrenched ideological dominance in picking a face solidly identified with its core planks, or if it will choose a person tilted more to its electoral calculations. Or, whether its pick will be an ode to its core supporters or a outreach to relatively new groups of votaries.
What does Udhayanidhi's induction as minister mean? For the DMK, it indicates the future course, direction and leadership. It is continuity with change, and change with continuity, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Thennarasu said that while the governor had to grant his approval to the bill, he informed them it was still under his consideration.
Murmu's vote share is now likely to go past 61 per cent, while it was earlier estimated to be around 50 per cent at the time of her nomination.
'OPS is the first person in history to ransack his own party office.'
The top court also clarified that the general council of the AIADMK which is to take place on July 11, 2022, may proceed in the accordance with the law.
The Madras high court on Wednesday set aside the proceedings of the Tamil Nadu revenue department locking and sealing the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam headquarters in Chennai following the July 11 violence, and directed that the keys of the office be handed over to party chief K Palaniswami.
'All societies possess conservatives and India can't be an exception. The difference is that when upper castes display their conservatism, they turn into a Taliban. Anna has come to harvest that social constituency,' says Chandrabhan Prasad.
Stalin said that even in Gujarat the vice-chancellors are not appointed by the governor but the State.
Violence broke out on Sunday near Kallakurichi as protesters demanding justice over the death of a girl student went on a rampage setting fire to vehicles and indulged in stone pelting, in which police personnel also became the target.
From the point of view of qualification, Murmu is probably educationally the least qualified among India's recent Presidents. But then, with the BJP in command, she will be required to do little but sign on the dotted line.
Amid chaos, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general council meeting in Chennai on Thursday rejected all the 23 proposed resolutions and announced that the one and only demand of the GC members is to bring in a system of a single leadership for the party, favouring joint coordinator Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS).
There are two such seats in Tamil Nadu and one each in West Bengal, Assam, Maharashtra, Puducherry and Madhya Pradesh.
With the Biju Janata Dal backing the National Democratic Alliance's presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu, the vote share of the ruling dispensation has now crossed 50 percent, virtually paving the way for her election as the first tribal President and the youngest too.
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