Top Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leaders, including party chief M Karunanidhi's son MK Stalin and daughter Kanimozhi, besides thousands of party workers today courted arrest across Tamil Nadu as part of a 'fill-the-jail' protest against the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government which has "foisted cases" against its cadres.
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.
He was held in connection with the murder of a youth allegedly by Veerappan in 1998.
According to insiders, their lack of enthusiasm is showing on the ground. There is nothing to suggest that their enthusiasm will return in the final four phases of polling, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The Tamil Nadu government should ask Andhra Pradesh to speed up the investigation.'
Throwing its weight behind former telecom minister A Raja, the Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam on Thursday said his arrest does not prove his guilt in the 2G spectrum scam and accused opposition parties of targetting him to "malign" the party.
The NHRC noted that media reports had pointed that Vijayendra Saraswati was arrested within hours of the Supreme Court directing the release of the senior Shankaracharya on bail.
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.
The BJP has nothing to lose after a point. For the DMK it is a difficult choice, as it would not want to give too much of space to a 'national party' lest the 'Dravidian duel' of the past decades should be lost forever, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The fishermen were apprehended along with their seven boats and handed over to the Ilawalai police in northern Jaffna peninsular on Wednesday by a group of local fishermen.
In searches carried out in the city earlier, the NIA had arrested two people -- Mohammed Azarudheen and Shiek Hidayathulla.
At least 34 Indian fishermen have been arrested and their boats seized by the Sri Lankan Navy for allegedly fishing in the country's waters, authorities in Colombo said on Tuesday.
For the moment it suits the DMK to hang with the Congress, for all the irritants in their relationship. But the dilemmas for the Congress are no less than for the DMK, says Neerja Chowdhury.
The Madras high court on Thursday granted anticipatory bail to Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam founder and Leader of Opposition in Tamil Nadu Assembly Vijaykanth, who apprehended arrest in connection with a case of alleged manhandling of a journalist at the airport.
"It was not a decision I took happily. But circumstances compelled me to do my duty," said the Tamil Nadu chief minister.
The banned terror outfit Al-Ummah was neutralised to a large extent after the 1998 Coimbatore blasts, but it now appears they are making a come back, reports Vicky Nanjappa
Days after its inauguration, officials on Wednesday demolished the compound wall and removed a park at the Mullivaaikal Memorial, built in honour of Tamil martyrs in the war in Sri Lanka, alleging that these were constructed on encroached highway land, triggering instant protests by pro-Eelam activists.
In a major breakthrough, one of the seven persons who allegedly carried out the Taliban-style attack on a college lecturer in Moovattupuzaha, Kerala, has been arrested by the special investigation team probing the case. Acting on information, the personnel of the special investigation team took into custody Shamsudeen alias Shamsu of Arackapady in Ernakulam district from Ukkadam on the outskirts of Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu on Thursday night.
The NIA has so far charge-sheeted 29 accused under the UAPA.
Vellore is one of the two seats that the DMK alliance won by the narrowest of margins in 2019. For the DMK's vote-score to be so low in a constituency with a substantial Muslim population has not missed the BJP strategists' eyes, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
M Natarajan, husband of Sasikala, close aide of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, was arrested on Monday after he was picked up from Courtallam in Tirunelveli district following a complaint from martial arts expert and sculptor Shihah Husseini that he was threatened by him, police said.
'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.'
A DMK leader and his brother were arrested in Tirunelveli on Saturday in the intensified crackdown on land grabbing by the J Jayalalithaa-led Tamil Nadu government.
The Tamil Nadu chief minister dismissed apprehensions that the arrest would disrupt daily prayers at the mutt.
Santiago Martin has funded Rs 1,368 crore to political parties between October 2020 to January 2024 through electoral bonds.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja's brother has been arrested on charges of 'bribing' voters in Perumbalur district in the run up to the April 13 Tamil Nadu assembly polls, police said on Monday.
The 61-year-old has proved to be as elusive as he has been brash, defying the Supreme Court and passing his own judgments against his peers.
The Sri Lankan Navy on Sunday arrested 17 fishermen along with their three boats when they were fishing near Katchatheevu, police said Rameshwaram.
Police also lodged criminal cases against home quarantined persons who ventured outside and have warned that violators of home quarantine order will face arrest.
The CPI-M leader was fluent in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Bangla, and also Malayalam. He was also well-versed in Hindu mythology, and often used those references in his speeches especially to attack the BJP.
The art dealer flees India, but is detained at Frankfurt airport.
The police on Friday arrested two more people for their alleged involvement in blasts outside the Bharatiya Janata Party's office in the city. Vayalar Hakim and Azghar Ali, who were picked up by the Tamil Nadu police, hail from Coimbatore.
The 49 Indian fishermen, arrested by Sri Lankan navy recently, have been released and will return home in a couple of days, Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday said in Chennai.
If Kejriwal is arrested, it will take very little for Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena to summon a meeting of the assembly, direct it to elect a new leader of the House, and, if it doesn't, dissolve it and impose President's Rule, predicts Aditi Phadnis.
The raids, as per official sources, began at 3:30 am and involved as many as 300 NIA officials from across its various offices.
Singh, who got bail in the alleged excise policy scam from the Supreme Court on Tuesday, also asked the BJP if the prime minister will join the probe if police from the opposition-ruled Bengal, Punjab and Tamil Nadu knocked at his doors.
The Congress had last month written to Home Minister Amit Shah, alleging "security breaches" during the Yatra in the national capital and demanded immediate steps to ensure the security of Gandhi and others taking part in the yatra.
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Thirty-three crew members of an American firm owned ship were on Friday arrested by Tamil Nadu police on charges of illegally carrying arms and ammunition and straying into Indian territorial waters without proper authorisation.
The ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu on Saturday said its alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party will continue for the 2021 assembly elections and exuded confidence it will win a hat-trick poll next year.
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