Tamil Nadu's ruling TVK and its post-poll allies have officially named their front the "Secular Social Justice Victory" alliance, with Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay elected as its leader. The alliance, which includes Congress, VCK, and IUML, is preparing for upcoming bypolls on October 6, which will serve as an initial test of its strength. Leaders emphasised the alliance's ideological foundation rooted in secularism and social justice, aiming to protect constitutional values and oppose communal forces.
The ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) has announced its candidates, K Maragatham Kumaravel and P Sathyabama, for the upcoming October 6 bypolls in Maduranthakam and Dharapuram Assembly seats in Tamil Nadu. This marks the first electoral challenge for the TVK government since its formation, setting the stage for a direct contest with DMK and anticipated participation from AIADMK.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi arrived in Chennai on Saturday for the sixth edition of 'Chhatron Ki Goonj,' a youth outreach programme. He is scheduled to meet Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, marking their first interaction since the formation of the SSJV alliance and TVK joining the INDIA bloc. The visit includes an unscripted interaction with students at Island Grounds, focusing on critical issues, amidst tight security arrangements.
Assembly by-elections in Madurantakam and Dharapuram will offer an early measure of the TVK's electoral strength and put the dynamics of its new alliance in focus.
Actor Vijay, president of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. The ceremony included a selfie with Rahul Gandhi and a 360-degree video of the cheering crowd. Vijay's party achieved a historic debut, ending the duopoly of DMK and AIADMK.
Former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan acknowledges the LDF's defeat in the Assembly elections, vowing to serve as a responsible opposition and address shortcomings.
Following the swearing-in of C Joseph Vijay as Tamil Nadu's chief minister, the new cabinet has pledged a 'white paper' audit of all state departments and a 'zero-interference' policy in administration, signalling a significant shift in governance.
C Joseph Vijay was sworn in as the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, marking the first non-DMK, non-AIADMK government in the state in 60 years. The ceremony was attended by Rahul Gandhi, and Vijay promised transparent governance and asserted his sole authority. He signed files to implement key promises, including free power for domestic consumers.
C Joseph Vijay, leader of the TVK, was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, with the oath of office administered by Governor Rajendra Vishwanath in a ceremony held at Nehru Stadium. The event was attended by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
What lessons opposition parties need to learn post defeat of Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal elections? The election saw spectacular victor of BJP which rose from 3 seats in 2016 to 206 seats in 2026 assembly elections.
'If the Opposition associates itself too much with the minorities, then it becomes easy for the BJP to get Hindu consolidation votes.'
As the Centre announced the inclusion of caste enumeration in the next census on Wednesday, opposition parties said it is a victory for their long-standing demand and sought time-bound implementation.
Made at a time when an insidious agenda can be read into it, Haq is an important film that deals with a contentious subject with maturity, observes Deepa Gahlot.
After big win in Bihar, the BJP is likely to push harder in Tamil Nadu, where the DMK government and the uneasy BJP-AIADMK alliance are preparing for a tense election filled with seat-sharing fights, changing alliances, and the unpredictable entry of Vijay's TVK party, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
The current situation in Kerala politics is perhaps best described as a case of the state's traditional two front politics now seeing a third front (the BJP) muscling in with the potential outcome being either a messy three front affair or a renewed endorsement of the two front pattern but with one of the old fronts compromised or quashed, observes Shyam G Menon.
'Which path should Muslims take politically as they have been completely marginalised?'
Throwing his party's weight behind the Congress to ensure an Opposition win in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday said arguments by some favouring a front without the grand old party should be rejected.
BJP and RSS leaders are once again pushing to remove the words 'secular' and 'socialist' from the Constitution's Preamble, showing a deeper effort to change India's identity from a diverse, multi-religious republic to a Hindu-first nation, even though they don't have the numbers in Parliament to officially change the Constitution, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Congress has tried to inflict capital punishment on true secularism, he claimed, asserting that the Waqf law has no place in the Constitution.
Bharatiya Janata Party is leading in six seats while secular alliance comprising Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal-United and Congress is ahead in 4 seats of the total 10 assembly seats where bypoll was held on August 21.
Doddamani has maintained a low profile; he has always worked actively behind the scenes in managing and strategising for Kharge's successive electoral campaign.
'In the name of pluralism-secularism, the kind of politics that was pursued revealed to many that it was basically a favour to Muslim conservatism and communalism -- a politics of minority-ism, rather than of secularism.' 'This is how significant sections of Hindus have been made to loathe the very idea of Indian secularism by now,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
In a stunning blow to the BJP on Wednesday, the party lost bypolls to all the three Lok Sabha seats it contested, including its bastion Gorakhpur, and Phulpur in Uttar Pradesh, besides Araria in Bihar.
The Supreme Court on Monday imposed an interim stay on directives passed by the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments that eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route must display names of owners.
'The Opposition parties will continue to woo Chandrababu Naidu even though he has said he will support the BJP.'
For the BJP, Telangana is a sunrise state in the South, while Karnataka is a southern success despite the ups and downs.
'He has emerged as a formidable leader who cannot be ignored anymore, who cannot be mocked.'
Stalin said one cannot and should not decide the mood of the entire country based on the results of one state elections.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's comprehensive defeat to the Congress in Karnataka where the two parties ran a campaign of contrasts has left the ruling party much to ponder as the two rivals are facing a direct contest in three more state polls this year in the run-up to the all-important 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Relishing the victory of the "secular alliance" over the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Bihar bypolls, Rashtriya Janata Dal President Lalu Prasad on Tuesday said people have put their stamp on the alliance between the RJD, the Janata Dal-United and the Congress.
'I don't think there will be any problem for Hindus to accept Adityanath as the leader, since they have already chosen Modi.'
In Bihar, Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad have come a long way from being bitter rivals for over two decades to friends with benefits. Their grand alliance along with the Congress, has won them six of the 10 assembly seats in the by-elections on Monday.
The Congress Legislature Party, which met at a private hotel in Bengaluru on Sunday evening, passed a unanimous resolution authorising the party chief to pick its leader.
By keeping the Sanatana Dharma row alive and adding the Ayodhya temple consecration scheduled for January 22 and adding the free darshan promise from four polled states to the entire country, the BJP may have a self-fulfilling concoction, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
'As a student of history, I am no pessimist, but regardless of which party/coalitions comes to power on May 23, the space for secularism, pluralism and minority rights has shrunk significantly,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
'In the next two years, we might see a new kind of realignment across India.' 'I don't see political alliances working against the BJP until an alternative political agenda is created.'
'We are losing the battle of secularism, but we have not lost.'
The bypolls are termed as a 'rehearsal' for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls by CM Yogi Adityanath.
JD-S leaders have already dropped enough hints about the party being open to such a possibility.
Rahul described the Rafale deal as a 'systematic robbery' from the Indian defence forces.
