The BJP continuing to look at the Dravidian polity through the religious prism has not worked in Tamil Nadu whereas it has yielded political and electoral results across much of the rest of the country, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Bharatiya Janata Party Tamil Nadu unit General Secretary V Ramesh was hacked to death by unidentified assailants near his house in Salem on Friday night, the police said.
If current trends persist, the Congress risks becoming increasingly regionally concentrated, dependent on a handful of states rather than functioning as a truly pan-India political force.
Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have been fiscally stressed for a considerable period of time, and there are no easy ways to mobilise revenues to meet the cost of the promised freebies, particularly in the prevailing difficult economic scenario, points out M Govinda Rao.
'They have been imposing Hindi on Tamil Nadu,' says DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai.
'The BJP will be the ruling party.'
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.
'The TVK might form a minority government.'
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.
Virtually friendless in Tamil Nadu, Congress on Monday said it would be going it alone in the state in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
TVK's chances of forming a government in Tamil Nadu are uncertain as it seeks support from Left parties and VCK after winning its maiden Assembly election. The Left parties are deliberating, while VCK will announce its decision on Saturday, adding suspense to the political situation.
A look at the profiles of the ministers in the new Tamil Nadu government led by Joseph C Vijay of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).
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.
Stalin said one cannot and should not decide the mood of the entire country based on the results of one state elections.
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.
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.
West Bengal recorded its highest-ever voter turnout in the 2026 assembly polls since Independence, with a cumulative 92.47 per cent polling in two phases, the Election Commission said on Wednesday.
The govt decided to recommend to the governor, the release of Murugan, Santhan, Perarivalan, Jayakumar, Ravichandran, Robert Payas and Nalini, serving life imprisonment.
The AIADMK swept the polls winning 37 of the 39 seats, leaving DMK, its rivals, and the BJP to do a serious rethinking before the assembly elections in 2016, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
With election campaign ending in Tamil Nadu before it goes to polls on Thursday, N Sathiya Moorthy lists a few questions uppermost in the minds of voters.
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.
Though the trucks have not been opened yet, it is reported that the cash belonged to State Bank of India and is being transported to Vijayawada.
'If Congress had aligned with the TVK before the election, we would have won almost a two-thirds majority.'
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Friday sought a change in seating arrangement for its MPs in the Lok Sabha, saying their alliance with the Congress has ended and it would not be appropriate for its members to sit alongside those of the Congress.
Tamil Nadu is the celebrated home of the 'social justice' movement in the country, yet caste differences and violence has only been increasing in numbers and becoming more brutal in recent years, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
With just 50 days to go for the polling day, the commission might get more tough.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Thursday said that it will move the Supreme Court against the delimitation bill, if it is passed in the Parliament.
The results of the recent presidential elections in Sri Lanka are likely to have stunned groups in Tamil Nadu that have been giving moral and material support to Tamils in the north and east of the island for decades. Tamil Nadu-based groups had asked Sri Lanka Tamils to protest against the election and boycott voting.
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.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has voiced his support for the TMC and DMK after their losses in recent assembly elections, while criticising the Congress party.
Unlike films that end with the underdog becoming winner and being sworn in at a public ceremony, Vijay's trial by fire is only about to begin, predicts Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
The DMK feels its genuine gestures have had no bearing on the governor's politico-administrative conduct, which is 'more political and politicised than administrative and Constitutional', observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin celebrated the defeat of the Constitution Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha, emphasising the unity of the south and the triumph of democracy. The bill aimed to implement reservation for women in legislatures in 2029 and increase Lok Sabha seats. Stalin criticised the bill as weakening the balance of the union and asserted Tamil Nadu's commitment to justice, dignity, and federalism.
'If a floor test happens, one group of MLAs may abstain to allow the confidence vote to pass. So theoretically, he can run a minority government as long as the others won't join each other to vote him out.'
If purists are surprised as to why and how people are not demanding prohibition or not talking about past promises, both in the election manifestos five years back and even those made to the courts, the answer lies in how the state has been evolving and changing these past few years, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The DMK party in Tamil Nadu has released its manifesto for the upcoming Assembly elections, promising a range of welfare measures focused on women, education, and economic development, including financial assistance and job creation initiatives.
CPI-M state secretary P Shanmugam said that the party will reconsider its support to the TVK government if it accommodates the rebel faction of the AIADMK in the Cabinet.
Former Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi has strongly criticised the Election Commission's ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, stating it is 'focussed more on exclusion' and has 'played havoc with democracy' by disturbing free and fair elections.
'Naalaiya Theerpu to Netraiya Theerpu!! Congratulations to Thalapathy and his party for the fabulous result.'
The AIADMK has released its final list of candidates for the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, including nominees to contest against prominent DMK leaders. The party is contesting in alliance with the BJP, AMMK and PMK.
