Though another 75 candidates are in the fray, the Elangovan-Thennaruasu fight has become a prestige battle for the DMK and AIADMK, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The EPS camp believes that the BJP was already arm-twisting the AIADMK into conceding more seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections 'than they deserve' observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Stalin, 68, was contesting as the chief ministerial candidate for the first time during these polls. He was elected unopposed as the DMK chief in August 2018, after the death of his father, a post that Karunanidhi held for 49 years. That didn't come as a surprise to anyone, as during his lifetime, Karunanidhi, on multiple occasions made his preference for his successor abundantly clear and systematically groomed him for the job.
Unless controlled and contained, given the untested belief that the north Indian labour support and follow the Hindutva kind of political ideology, there is a potential in terms of ideological clashes with their Dravidian brethren in the local neighbourhoods, and it all escalating into violence, especially during election time, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
The 94-year old former Tamil Nadu chief minister was under continuous monitoring and treated with active medical support, a press release by Kauvery Hospital said.
Chief Minister M K Stalin on Tuesday launched a Rs 225.86 crore welfare assistance scheme here for Sri Lankan Tamil refugees living in camps in Tamil Nadu and alleged that the previous AIADMK regime was not concerned about them.
Rahul Gandhi visited ailing DMK chief M Karunanidhi at Kauvery Hospital in Chennai.
Prime Minister Modi described the DMK chief as a prolific thinker and a deep-rooted mass leader who stood for regional aspiration and national progress.
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.
'Religion must be in your home and in the temple, not in government functions.'
The body was kept at the leader's Gopalapuram residence till 1 am.
The crowd, who was trying to barge inside the hospital, was lathi-charged on Sunday night by the police deployed to avoid any unwelcome situation.
The Indian authorities have to reconfirm that Prabhakaran is dead. It may require seeking assistance from Interpol and also involve the re-opening of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, and more so, the investigations, formally or otherwise, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
The BJP continuing to look at the Dravidian polity through the religious prism has not worked in Tamil Nadu whereas it has yielded political and electoral results across much of the rest of the country, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Tamil Nadu government on Friday announced Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu, an invocation sung in praise of mother Tamil, as the state anthem and directed that all present during its rendition should remain standing.
Indicating that India was in "safe hands" with the BJP, he said "You can protect the country if you accept the BJP's ideology."
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.
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.
His father Somappa Rayappa Bommai was the state chief minister during 1988-1989.
Sri Lanka has slammed Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi's call for a Tamil Eelam, with Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa saying he can have it in India where a larger population of Tamils live.
Thalaivii proves Kangana is the Queen of Bollywood, asserts Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam president M K Stalin on Friday launched his 30-day pre-election campaign in poll-bound Tamil Nadu from Tiruvannamalai near Chennai and vowed to deliver a pro-people government with focus on development if his party was voted to power in the coming assembly elections, likely to be held in April-May.
'A recent compromise by the state government is accepting NEET exams for medical entrance.'
His likable boy-next-door face and casual approach to public speaking have a unique appeal for the younger generation, but it stops there, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
With an eye on assembly elections scheduled in another four months in Tamil Nadu, archrivals M Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa on Thursday virtually turned their customary New Year greetings into poll messages. Karunanidhi said his government's initiatives like the new Assembly-Secretariat complex in Chennai, the five-day World Classical Tamil conference in Coimbatore, celebrations to mark the 1000th year existence of the temple at Thanjavur were the proud achievements.
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.
Governor Banwarilal Purohit administered the oath of office and secrecy to 68-year old Stalin, for whom this would be the first stint as CM
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.
The PM name is to be decided only after the Lok Sabha results, a top opposition leader said.
During his meetings with the UPA boss and the prime minister, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader is expected to discuss two thorny issues affecting Dr Singh's government -- the 2G spectrum row involving Telecom Minister and DMK MP A Raja and the continued absence of his son M K Alagiri, the Union chemicals and fertilisers minister, from Parliament and Cabinet meetings.
"Some are creating an impression that Rajinikanth is to launch a party at the instigation of people who intend to decimate the Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu. "Let me tell you, this is the land of Periyar (Dravidar Kazhagam founder E V Ramasamy Naicker), Anna (C N Annadurai) and Kalaignar (Karunanidhi)... such efforts in the past have ended in a fiasco," Stalin said.
Party insiders concede statements of the Raja kind have the potential to hurt the DMK's electoral chances in closely-fought seats in 2024, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
With the Tamil Nadu electorate having given him an unprecedented mandate that had eluded his father the late M Karunanidhi, Stalin has to prove his worth, ensuring at the same time that the Dravidian drag on the AIADMK's side does not open up space for the BJP to make inroads in the state, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
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.
The strained relationship between the ruling Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam and its key ally Pattali Makkal Katchi on Friday reached a flashpoint with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi asserting that his party would take a decision whether to continue the relationship 'in five or six days'.Karunanidhi said that PMK leader and president of Vanniyar Sangam G Guru had spoken at a public meeting recently, threatening Union Minister A Raja and DMK MLA S Sivasankar.
DMK working president M K Stalin has appealed to cadres to remain calm and to follow discipline in 'this hour of grief'.
"An impression is created that Congress president Sonia Gandhi personally talked to M Karunanidhi to keep the Hogenakkal project on hold," he said in a statement in New Delhi on Wednesday, backtracking on his previous statement in Bangalore on the subject.Karunanidhi has already said that the decision was not based on any request made by the Congress and was meant for the welfare of the people of both the states.
The 94-year-old leader is currently being treated for fever due to urinary tract infection with intravenous antibiotics and fluids.
Security has been beefed up at Karunanidhi's Gopalapuram residence as DMK cadre kept pouring in there.
A special court on Thursday held that the prosecution "miserably failed" to prove the charges in 2G scam case.