'Your strike rate is very important when it comes to seat-sharing.'
Everybody in Tamil Nadu, it seems, has an opinion on superstar Rajinikanth entering politics. A Ganesh Nadar presents a cross-section of views on the actor's chances in the electoral arena.
Dinakaran said how could he flee the country when his passport 'is in court' for 20 years.
A day after the Tamil Nadu assembly speaker disqualified 18 MLAs from the AIADMK's V K Sasikala-T T V Dinakaran faction, Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar spoke to a couple of MLAs.
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.
'The DMK may get a little more than 50% of the minority vote.' 'The AIADMK always gets over 10% of the minority vote.'
If Sasikala wants to stay in active politics, she will have to go to EPS crawling, reports Aditi Phadnis.
V K Sasikala, late J Jayalalithaa's confidante would return to Tamil Nadu on February 7 from Bengaluru and a grand welcome from party cadres awaited her right from the state's border, Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary T T V Dinakaran said in Madurai on Wednesday.
The apex court also said the poll panel can go ahead with its scheduled hearing on Friday itself.
The jailed All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader had applied for 15-day parole on Monday, seeking temporary release to attend to her ailing husband, M Natarajan, 74, who is in the liver intensive care unit of a corporate hospital.
She visited her husband M Natarajan, who underwent liver and kidney transplantation at a hospital in Chennai, on all five days of her parole period.
The court dismissed the plea filed by P Vetrivel, MLA, a supporter of sidelined AIADMK leader T T V Dinakaran, and imposed a cost of Rs one lakh on him for "wasting the time of the court".
'The alliance led by the DMK is starting with 15% votes while the AIADMK is starting from scratch.' 'Minority votes may be crucial'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said his government has always taken care of the welfare of Sri Lankan Tamils and 'consistently' flagged the issue of their rights with the leaders in the island nation.
This time round, even 'petrol coupons' were reportedly distributed for those attending campaign rallies, especially those addressed by top leaders, cutting across party lines. If this owed to the rising cost of petrol and diesel -- which is a poll issue this time -- there were the customary coupons for 'quarter' (liquor bottle size) and non-vegetarian biryani. Some media reports claimed that some of these 'crowds' attended more than one political rally on the same day in the last week, and at times for rival political parties in adjoining constituencies or districts, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'It is not a merger. It is a commercial agreement reached for self-interest,' he said.
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.
Rajinikanth will win the elections whenever they are held, predicts A Ganesh Nadar.
It has now asked Sasikala to either sign the response herself or by an authorised signatory who is in the commission's list of AIADMK office bearers and send it again by March 10.
The revived factionalism in the AIADMK, if not curbed now, has the potential to split the party vertically, warns N Sathiya Moorthy.
Dinakaran met Sasikala for the first time after her loyalist E K Palaniswami won the vote of confidence in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on February 18.
Assistant Commissioner Sanjay and another official served the summons to Dinakaran at his Besant Nagar residence.
The Delhi Police personnel, who were inside Dinakaran's house for about 20 minutes, declined to speak to the waiting media while leaving the premises.
Days after his outburst against AMMK leader T T V Dhinakaran, close aide Thanga Tamilselvan on Friday joined the DMK in the presence of its chief M K Stalin. He is the second top Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam leader after V Senthil Balaji to join the principal opposition party in Tamil Nadu.
'The last four years was not Dravidian rule, it was BJP rule by proxy.'
The Delhi high court, on March 9, allowed Dinakaran's plea for allotment of a common symbol, preferably 'pressure cooker', and a name of his choice for the AIADMK faction led by him.
Jayalalithaa and Sasikala have made peace after a three-month tiff and though her return may not have any political repercussions, it will impact the government.
'More than losing Bengal, the worry for their national leadership is the current crisis.' 'If people perceive that the government does not do enough, then there's trouble.'
They were distributing pamphlets which allegedly containing defamatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami.
'The AIADMK gets votes from all sections of the minorities.' 'By aligning with the BJP the AIADMK stands to lose that vote'
The bypoll was necessitated following the demise of J Jayalalitha.
As per the bill, the salary and allowances of legislators have been raised from Rs 55,000 to Rs 1,05,000 per month, an increase of 90.91 per cent.
The deaths brought back the focus on NEET in the state, with all political parties but for the BJP opposed to the qualifying exam.
'In the last three to four months the BJP vote share in Tamil Nadu, which was 2.86% in 2016, has gone up to about 5%-6%.' 'The AIADMK will lose the minority votes and others who don't like the BJP and Modi.' 'The AIADMK decided to take the risk to get the 5%-6% votes that the BJP will bring in.'
Dinakaran said he was revealing the information now since Panneerselvam was being critical of him in public fora, even while making efforts to mend fences.
'Our party cadre does not want her in the party.'
Replying to an RTI query the DIG-Prisons said that except for a television set, other facilities were not allowed to her.
'It's a natural alliance and this alliance has been has been formed without compromising the core ideology of the AIADMK.'
Elections are due in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal that year. Early indications show Bengal holds promise for the BJP, but the party may have to recast itself to win Tamil Nadu.
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