The BJP's MoSha leadership are past masters in encouraging defections from their allies if it helped their party capture the chief minister's chair. In Bihar, they are not sure if JD-U MPs and MLAs would be willing to cross over to the BJP if the Nitish leadership came on top -- and the NDA crossed the halfway mark together, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan, along with three other newly elected Rajya Sabha MPs from Tamil Nadu, took oath as members of the House.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of halting military conflict with Pakistan within five hours of being asked by then US President Donald Trump. He made the allegations during a rally in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, also criticizing the media and the deletion of names from electoral rolls.
Cyclone Ditwah exits Sri Lanka after causing widespread destruction and over 120 deaths, heading towards the Indian coast. Heavy rains and high winds are expected to continue.
The two were booked under sections 295 A (deliberate and malicious acts to outrage religious feelings) and 153 A (promoting enmity between different religious groups) of the IPC at Civil Lines Police Station here on Tuesday.
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan criticized Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and RJD's Tejashwi Yadav for alleged abuses directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mother during a political rally in Bihar. The BJP accused the opposition leaders of crossing 'limits of insult' with their remarks.
'It makes law-making on the part of the state governments much more difficult and throws up bottlenecks as governors are not acting on bills.'
Chennai Police received a phone call claiming that a bomb had been planted at the ECR, Neelankarai residence of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) Chief and actor C Joseph Vijay, officials said.
"It is high time India traded dynasty for meritocracy. This would require fundamental reforms, from imposing legally mandated term limits to requiring meaningful internal party elections, together with a concerted effort to educate and empower the electorate to choose leaders based on merit," Tharoor said.
The Tamil Nadu BJP took a jibe at Chief Minister and DMK leader M K Stalin on Friday by extending birthday wishes in Mandarin amid the ongoing 'Chinese flag' newspaper advertisement controversy.
If the TVK joins the NDA, there is every likelihood of the AIADMK winning an absolute majority in the 234 seat assembly and wanting to form a stand-alone government. In turn, it could mean that the BJP especially and the TVK equally so, will want to restrict the AIADMK's seat share closer to the cut-off figure, if only to ensure that EPS won't get the absolute majority that he desires (if the NDA won, that is) and will have to settle for a coalition government, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Stalin still enjoys a lot of sympathy and empathy as someone wishing well for the state, but not full-throated support as in 2019 and 2021, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Amid widespread outrage and criticism, and opposition demand for a CBI probe, Chief Minister M K Stalin on Tuesday ordered transferring to the central agency, the investigation into death of Ajithkumar (29), who was picked up by a "special team" for interrogation in connection with a theft case.
State governments have requested the Centre for export incentives, lifting of import duty in the case of cotton for the textile sector and GST exemptions.
Pro-BJP forces, unable to tolerate Udhayanidhi's stance against oppressive principles, have spread a false narrative, alleging he called for the genocide of people with Sanatan thoughts, Stalin said in a statement and wondered why Prime Minister Narendra Modi would also join those targeting the Tamil Nadu minister.
Any narrative against the Dravidian model may impact the BJP's prospects in Tamil Nadu. This may explain why the BJP in Tamil Nadu is placing more emphasis on corruption allegations against the DMK, even as the party focuses nationally on the Sanatana controversy.
The Supreme Court has criticized the Tamil Nadu government for implicating over 2000 individuals in the cash-for-jobs scam involving former minister V Senthil Balaji, demanding details of all accused and witnesses.
A couple of days after the Oscars, on Wedesday, March 15, 2023, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin felicitated Elephant Whisperers Bomman and Bellie following the Oscars win for the documentary The Elephant Whisperers in Chennai.
'Contesting fewer seats than last time but winning more and performing better... would be in the interest of the Congress.'
Vijay said the truth about the fatal incident will come out soon, and hinted he was ready to face action.
The Rajya Sabha MP said the National Entrance-cum-Eligibility Test has prevented access to medical education for so many children and the strength to change that rule of exam could emerge only from education.
'There is no doubt about the antiquity of Tamil Nadu.'
The first-time director is getting a lot of love and recognition for her documentary The Elephant Whisperers, which won an Oscar earlier this month.
At the end of the day, Stalin expressing solidarity with an arrested colleague is one thing, especially if he too felt that the minister had been wronged, but for him to retain the person in office sets a bad precedent, which would not go unnoticed by voters, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Rahul Gandhi's problem is that he doesn't think big.' 'He looks more like an activist, while politics is like a game of chess. You attack and then defend and have a game-plan.'
A senior citizen in his 70s said he has never seen so many people getting killed in a stampede at a political party's event and blamed the youths for their anxiety to somehow take a look at the actor.
Chandrasekhar was reacting to the arrest of Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party leader S G Suryah under the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology (IT) Act allegedly over a social media post.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin enjoyed some time off from his busy schedule as he watched the IPL 2023 match between Chennai Super Kings and Punjab Kings on Sunday.
By naming a sworn swayamsevak for vice president, the Modi-Shah duo have sent out a clear and positive message to Nagpur, where the RSS headquarters is located, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
While the Raj Bhavan had on Thursday night said it placed the unprecedented 'dismissal' order on hold, the DMK regime asserted it would pick an appropriate action plan to counter and fight the move against the minister by Ravi, even though he backtracked from it.
It is shameful that Governor Ravi has become a representative of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Raj Bhavan has turned into an office of the saffron party, he alleged.
Opposition parties allege the Modi government is attempting to turn India into a 'dictatorship' with the introduction of three Bills that seek to provide for removal of the prime minister, chief ministers and ministers arrested on serious charges, and vowed to oppose it 'tooth and nail'.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has announced the formation of a panel headed by a retired Supreme Court judge to study the relationship between the Union and state governments and ensure state autonomy. The panel, which will submit its interim report in January 2026 and its final report in two years, will examine the transfer of subjects from the State List to the Concurrent List, citing the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) as an example of a subject outside state purview.
Vijay, with his chief ministerial ambitions, is a one-man army, at least as of now, and his campaign team considers him omnipresent. He has to be present in all districts, if not all constituencies at the same time, as there is no second-line leader or platform speaker in the party, who can draw crowds, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The textile and apparel sector is India's second-largest employment provider, after agriculture, and it is now caught in a wave of uncertainty following the Donald Trump administration's tariff policy.
Haasan spoke on the hardwork and international quality behind the Mani Ratnam directorial Thug Life, which is set for release on June 5, and said, "I should thank the entire state of Tamil Nadu which stood behind me."
Stalin, in an interview to a daily, has refuted the FM's allegations, saying "everyone present in the Assembly knew it was a drama enacted by herself," referring to the late Jayalalithaa.
For now, the DMK can be expected to sound the bugle for Opposition unity at the national level, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Arjun Menon celebrates his 70th birthday on August 22 by looking at his most memorable films.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman criticizes the DMK government in Tamil Nadu, alleging corruption, caste-based crimes, and a rise in drug abuse. She dismisses the DMK's claims about language and Dravidian identity as a distraction from their governance failures.