The AIADMK is convinced that the BJP will remain an electoral burden for a long time to come, beginning the Lok Sabha polls next year, reveals N Sathiya Moorthy.
Former Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party chief K Annamalai's newly launched political movement titled 'Idhu Namma lyakkam' (This Is Our Movement) attracted over 10 lakh members registered within 10 hours of its launch after he formally quit the BJP on Friday.
'Vijay did not defeat Dravidian politics from outside. He entered the Dravidian field and claimed ownership of it. 'His argument was not that the room should be destroyed. It was that the present occupants no longer deserved to remain in it.'
Speaker Awadh Bihari Chaudhary took a grim note of the unruly behaviour of some of the BJP MLAs who had entered the well and placed chairs on the table of the reporting staff.
DMK President M K Stalin has alleged that the ruling TVK won the April 23 Assembly polls by influencing people through social media, without doing any field work. He said social media was used to influence family members through children and that the DMK has realised this and will be very careful from now on. Stalin also mentioned that the DMK has set up a committee to tour all the 234 constituencies in the state to assess the ground situation and find out the reasons for the debacle.
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.
The Congress party has announced its seven candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Pawan Khera, Meenakshi Natarajan, Praveen Chakravarty, Neeraj Dangi, Mansoor Ali Khan, and Pranav Jha, representing various states like Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, and Jharkhand. The elections are set for June 18.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Tuesday said the state now is not in a position to release Cauvery river water to neighbouring Tamil Nadu, due to lack of rains in the river basin region.
IMD said on Tuesday that the cyclone has a wind speed of 100-110 kmph and gusting to 120 kmph. The coastal areas of Tamil Nadu are expected to receive heavy rain between November 23-26.
DMK Parliamentary Party leader T R Baalu told reporters in New Delhi that Tamil Nadu Law Minister S Regupathy, who led a delegation, handed over to the President what state Chief Minister M K Stalin has 'written', but repeatedly insisted the content of the communication was only known to the CM.
The Madras High Court has restrained TVK MLA R Srinivasa Sethupathi from voting, including in the upcoming confidence motion, due to a petition challenging his one-vote victory.
Coming down hard on the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Friday charged it with preventing the development of the state and vowed to "smash" all the hurdles to deliver welfare to the people of the state.
The MDMK general council, led by Vaiko, has announced its decision to withdraw from the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance. The party accused the DMK of attempting to prop up an AIADMK government, which they claim goes against the people's mandate and the alliance's secular ideology.
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.
Exit polls suggest significant shifts in Indian state assembly elections, forecasting BJP gains in West Bengal and Assam, a DMK comeback in Tamil Nadu, and a tight race in Kerala.
The ongoing 'Cable War' between the Marans-owned Sun Network and M K Azhagiri's Royal Cable Vision took another turn on Thursday, with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi warning of legal action against the Sun Network if it did not share the feeds with the state-owned Arasu Cable TV Corporation.
Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar informed TVK chief Vijay that his party lacks the necessary support to form the government. TVK is intensifying efforts to gain support from Left parties, VCK, and IUML. The Governor's decision has sparked protests and political debate in the state.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday claimed that Governor R N Ravi 'insulted' the gubernatorial position he holds, by not reading out the speech at the commencement of the assembly session.
A 34-year-old 'differently-abled' man, SabariVarman, arrested for selling tobacco products, died in judicial custody in Tamil Nadu's Kanniyakumari district, prompting his family to allege police brutality and stage protests demanding an investigation.
A moving goods train carrying diesel caught fire on Sunday at Tiruvallur in northern Tamil Nadu severely affecting train services on the arterial Chennai-Arakkonam rail route, which also links Chennai with Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, officials said.
Already, there is a feeling even within the BJP's AIADMK ally that the BJP is overdoing things on the ED/I-T front, as corruption is not an election issue in the state -- as long as the people are otherwise not excessively unhappy with the governing party, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Small parties have the capacity to play both ends against the middle. Puducherry could be heading that way, points out Aditi Phadnis.
Former Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party president K Annamalai left for Delhi from Chennai on Monday amid growing speculation on social media over his political future and reports suggesting he may be planning to launch a new political platform.
Home-grown FMCG major Dabur India on Thursday said it will set up a Rs 400-crore manufacturing plant in Tamil Nadu's Villupuram district, marking the company's maiden foray into the South. State Industries Minister TRB Rajaa said, Dabur has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the state government to this effect on Thursday. The MoU outlines an approved Phase 1 investment of Rs 135 crore, scaling up to Rs 400 crore over five years, Dabur India said in a statement.
Heart-breaking stories of sorrow and shock began emerging from various parts of Kerala as people learned about the death of their loved ones.
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief Vijay is unlikely to take oath on Thursday as chief minister as the actor-turned politician firms up support to cross the majority mark in the Tamil Nadu assembly, sources said on Wednesday.
'The TVK might form a minority government.'
Tamil Nadu is leaving no stone unturned in marketing its upcoming global investors meeting on January 7 and 8. While business veterans are promoting the positives of the state's industrial climate through the 'Titans of Tamil Nadu" campaign, the state is narrating the human stories behind its robust industrial growth via the 'One Trillion Dreams' campaign. Among the industry bigwigs, who are showcasing Tamil Nadu to the world through this mega marketing initiative include Venu Srinivasan of TVS Motor Company, K M Mammen of MRF Ltd, Pratap Reddy of Apollo Hospitals, P R Venketrama Raja of Ramco Group, Mallika Srinivasan of TAFE; and Vellayan Subbiah of Murugappa Group.
Tamil Nadu's latest budget offers path-breaking initiatives and major boost for social infrastructure, which other state governments are sure to follow in the coming years, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
A special team from Tirupur Cyber Crime continued their surveillance and traced the accused Prashantkumar a native of Bihar, settled at Henegare village of Latehar district in Jharkhand, for posting the videos as if North Indian migrant workers were attacked.
Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar journeys through villages and towns, districts and cities for a reality check.
Nationwide protests against the NEET paper leak have intensified across several Indian states, with demonstrators condemning the Delhi Police crackdown and demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The Congress party has called for further demonstrations, while various student and political groups have organised marches and sit-ins, some leading to clashes with police.
One of the standout stories of the TVK victory was that of 30-year-old R Sabarinathan, the son of Vijay's driver from Virugambakkam.
Vijay was appointed CM after he presented letters of support from the VCK and the IUML who have two MLAs each.
'If he has not achieved 'Congress mukt Bharat' even now, the question of his creating a 'DMK mukt Tamil Nadu' does not arise,' points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Alagiri's father and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, his younger brother and Deputy Chief Minister M K Stalin, and other members of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's first family were present at the reception held under very tight security. Former Union telecom minister A Raja, who quit over the 2G spectrum scam, was seen standing near Karunanidhi for a long time, chatting with him at times
Tamil Nadu Industries Minister TRB Rajaa claims Uttar Pradesh's development is funded by Tamil Nadu's tax contributions to the central government, sparking a political debate over regional economic disparities.
AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami met with new district secretaries to discuss the party's future strategy amid an ongoing internal rift. The meeting follows the removal of senior leaders and cross-voting during a recent confidence vote.
A student from Maharashtra drowned and another went missing after entering the sea in Chennai. The Maharashtra government is coordinating with Tamil Nadu authorities for search and rescue efforts.
The Dravidian model of politics seems to depend on freebies, feeds on corruption and brazenly encourages crony capitalism, says M R Venkatesh.
