From Chief Minister EK Palaniswami to Seeman to TTV Dhinakaran to elder brother M K Azhagiri, everyone's favourite target these days seems to the DMK chief Stalin, which is good news in an election year, but that doesn't mean he is going to sweep the polls, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
He was a nine-time MLA, one-time Lok Sabha member and former finance minister of Tamil Nadu and a close friend of former Chief Minister late Karunanidhi.
Thambidurai, 71, was admitted to the Apollo Hospitals on Tuesday and underwent an angiogram, they said without divulging any further details.
Ahead of expelled leader Sasikala's return on February 8 to Tamil Nadu from Karnataka, the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Saturday lodged a complaint with police against her camp alleging a 'conspiracy' to unleash 'violence' and sought action to ensure peace in the state.
'Our party cadre does not want her in the party.'
A portion of the 15-foot tall private compound wall, totally wet due to heavy rains lashing the area for the past few days, fell on the adjoining tiled-roof houses in Nadur village.
The video recording of the House proceedings on February 18 must be from the commencement till the end, the court said.
Expelled All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader V K Sasikala was set free on Wednesday by authorities after she completed four years imprisonment in a jail here in a case of disproportionate assets, setting off celebrations by her supporters in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
'He has to listen to his body and his mind and he decided to leave politics.'
For quite some time, there was speculation that actor-politician Kamal Haasan-led Makkal Needhi Maiam and the DMK would sign up with the strategist for the 2021 assembly polls.
The BJP has been pushing the two AIADMK groups to merge and then get the Sasikala clan out of the party and government.
In signs of thaw on All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam merger move, the factions led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami and the one by O Panneerselvam on Friday announced formation of their respective committees to hold discussions.
The chief government whip on Thursday sought their disqualification for alleged anti-party activities.
CM Palaniswami condoled the deaths and announced cash relief to their families, besides jobs for their kin.
His investigations have not revealed anything alarming so far, it said. The 70-year old actor is scheduled for a further set of investigations on Saturday, reports of which would be available by the evening, it said.
Jayalalithaa was the third chief minister in Tamil Nadu to die in office, after her mentor M G Ramachandran (1987) and before that his mentor C N Annadurai (1969). The state government should have evolved protocols for the medical care of the incumbent, and institutional memory should have guided the government and officials in the matter, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Tamil Nadu's voters wanted tough leaders at the helm, to the point of being autocratic. It was what Karunanidhi, MGR and Jayalalithaa ended up becoming, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Sidelined AIADMK leader TTV Dinakaran sought to play down party's decision.
With the unanticipated floods across Tamil Nadu catching the unprepared administration unawares, Stalin finds that some of the early positives that had rubbed on his initiatives have been lost, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
As some BJP pollsters concede, the Modi leadership's sweeping success in elections 2019, especially across central India, owed not to Hindutva ideology, but to welfare schemes, all of them borrowed from Tamil Nadu, reveals N Sathiya Moorthy.
However, the EC is yet to make an official announcement in this regard.
The CRPF said Kumar was under treatment at a force hospital in Hyderabad since February 12 for 'schizophrenia'.
The ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam maintained its winning streak in the two-phase local body elections in the nine newly created districts in Tamil Nadu trouncing the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which had earlier suffered defeat in the April 6 assembly election.
Emerging from a "consultative" meeting chaired by Chief Minister E K Palaniswami, Finance Minister D Jayakumar declared that the "unanimous" decision was taken in tune with the aspirations of the party cadres and people.
'Your strike rate is very important when it comes to seat-sharing.'
Taking up the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister E K Palaniswami, in a letter, said the state government was "extremely" concerned over such incidents
The 62-year old MP representing Villupuram suffered serious head injuries and died on the spot on Saturday morning.
Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam led the strike against the Centre.
Since the demise of former All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam supremo and chief minister J Jayalalithaa in December last year, Tamil Nadu's political scenario has witnessed unprecedented drama. Following is the chronology of major events in the southern state's ruling party.
Ravi, shifted from Nagaland, said he saw his new role more as an opportunity than a challenge.
Expelled All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazahagm leader VK Sasikala on Tuesday arrived in Chennai, 23 hours after her departure from Bengaluru, where she had served a four year jail term in a corruption case and also underwent treatment for COVID-19.
A G Perarivalan alias Arivu is now a free man following a legal battle, and that long fight provides scope for throwback moments of Tamil sentiment that propelled the struggle which was backed by most political parties and successive governments in Tamil Nadu.
Venugopal told the court that he had given legal opinion to the AIADMK faction led by Panneerselvam.
Teams of the NDRF have reached several places in Tamil Nadu and Kerala as the two states brace themselves for cyclone Burevi.
The home minister said he was deeply pained at the loss of precious lives during the agitation at Tuticorin.
The ruling faction's announcement came two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi rang up Palaniswami to seek his party's support.
According to the Chief Minister, Pallikal will receive a government 'high cash incentive' of Rs 60 lakh for winning two silver medals, while Chinnappa and Ghosal will get Rs 30 lakh each for their respective single silver medals.
The parleys, according to a BJP senior, were cordial and the deal is likely to be clinched soon.
As leaders go, while Modi's visits to the state will be watched with curiosity, Rahul will need to be dislodged from the popular consciousness -- Tamil Nadu is one state where he's present, notes Aditi Phadnis.
If Sasikala wants to stay in active politics, she will have to go to EPS crawling, reports Aditi Phadnis.
