Vijay's TVK is poised to win its debut Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu, drawing parallels to Arvind Kejriwal's AAP's rise in Delhi. Both parties capitalised on public disenchantment with established political structures, promising change and fighting corruption.
Exit polls predict a BJP victory in Assam and an edge in West Bengal, a DMK government in Tamil Nadu, and a Congress-led UDF comeback in Kerala.
Counting of votes begins in Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, and West Bengal, with significant implications for regional and national parties.
The BJP state unit hailed Vasan and said his advice will be used in the coming days to guide the alliance.
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.
Vijay termed the assembly polls due in April this year as a "surprising election" as all parties in the state are allegedly teamed up against him and reiterated that the contest was between the DMK and TVK only.
DMK Youth Wing chief Udhayanidhi Stalin has launched a scathing attack on the Congress, accusing the former ally of 'stabbing the DMK in the back' and blaming them for the BJP's consecutive national victories. He exhorted party cadre to 'never trust the Congress again'.
The Election Commission has issued a stern notice to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge for calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a 'terrorist'. Kharge has been asked to explain his remarks within 24 hours.
'The TVK might form a minority government.'
'"Pakistan will come and bite you" doesn't work here.'
The DMK leadership may now have to deal with a demand for more seats from its Congress ally in the Lok Sabha polls, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
'If Congress had aligned with the TVK before the election, we would have won almost a two-thirds majority.'
'They want to know more about him. They want to see his films. Even those who were earlier not interested in his films want to see him now.'
Four and a half crore voters will decide the fate of 2,773 candidates.
The Congress high command has intervened to manage discord within the DMK-Congress alliance in Tamil Nadu, following controversial remarks by state leaders regarding power-sharing demands.
Actor Vijay's political party, TVK, has significantly impacted the Tamil Nadu political landscape in its debut election, challenging established political norms and achieving notable success.
A fourth AIADMK MLA, Esakki Subaya, has resigned from the Tamil Nadu Assembly and is seen with TVK leaders, following three other rebel MLAs who also quit and joined the ruling TVK. This move has sparked strong accusations of 'horse-trading' from the AIADMK and Congress, while the Speaker insists he is acting within legal frameworks.
Whether Vijay has the political spine to stitch together a stable government from this patchwork of conditions, demands, and midnight drama is the question Tamil Nadu is living through right now.
With the assembly elections in fast approaching, the campaign juggernaut has started rolling through the streets of Tamil Nadu. While the 2G-scam hit Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam is doing everything it can to regain its popularity, Jayalalitha's whirlwind campaign is only gathering more steam. Rediff.com analyses the situation in poll-bound Tamil Nadu as election fever grips the state.
A major political controversy has erupted in Tamil Nadu as the TVK alleges the DMK attempted horse-trading to poach its MLAs, leading to arrests and an ongoing police investigation into the high-stakes political maneuvering.
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.
As more opposition MPs are now aligning with the ruling NDA, sources in the government indicated that possibilities are being explored to give a fresh push to the delimitation legislation in Parliament.
Three All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam legislators who were part of the rebel group led by C Ve Shanmugam and SP Velumani, met Tamil Nadu assembly Speaker JC D Prabhakar on Monday and tendered their resignation.
Rulers in New Delhi and their political aides in sensitive states like Tamil Nadu have to be doubly careful not to provoke a situation whose consequences may be much more than visible now to the naked eye, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam chief Vijay, buoyed by the support from the Left parties, on Friday called on Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar at the Lok Bhavan in Chennai in connection with securing an invite from him to form the government.
'EPS exposed all the traitors. The DMK has given them political asylum. They are political orphans.'
NDA constituents AIADMK and BJP have started preliminary discussions for the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. Key leaders from both parties met to discuss strategies to defeat the DMK government and strengthen their alliance.
The Election Commission has allotted the 'whistle' symbol to actor Vijay's political party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), for the upcoming 2026 Assembly elections. Party workers are enthusiastically promoting the symbol across Tamil Nadu.
The DMK criticised its former allies, VCK and IUML, for joining the TVK government, leading to a heated exchange and prompting DMK chief M K Stalin to call for restraint.
Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay-led TVK government successfully won the trust vote in the Tamil Nadu assembly, securing 144 votes in favour, with support from the Congress, VCK, and an AIADMK rebel faction.
The 2G spectrum scam involving DMK leader A Raja will have an impact on the party's prospects in the forthcoming Tamil Nadu assembly election, feels DMK spokesperson T K S Elangovan.
With Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam joining hands with All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, rumours had it that DMDK will follow suit.
The Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has completed one year, leading to the deletion of nearly six crore voters across 19 states and Union territories. This exercise, which began in Bihar, has faced opposition criticism but was upheld by the Supreme Court. The purification drive has significant implications, including linking voter data to social security benefits in some states.
'...especially pressure on the rupee, the current account deficit, and foreign exchange outflows.' 'The key question over the next several months is whether the government can prevent external turbulence from feeding into domestic economic pessimism.'
Vijay said the 2026 assembly election carried a new environment that had never seen before.
Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh has accused the BJP of orchestrating bomb blasts in Amritsar and Jalandhar to destabilise Punjab ahead of elections, a claim strongly refuted by the BJP.
Stalin's personal intervention in the Adheenam row may have contained the avoidable political damage and social tensions at least for now, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Stalin said one cannot and should not decide the mood of the entire country based on the results of one state elections.
Tamilaga Vazhvurimai Katchi (TVK) has announced its departure from the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) ahead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, citing the DMK's 'big brother' attitude and unmet demands.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday slammed the Congress and DMK over the defeat of the amendment bill regarding the Women's Reservation Act in Parliament but said the government was determined to implement it and that "no power in the world can stop us," from doing so.
