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.
Tamil Nadu is set to protest against the National Education Policy (NEP) on February 18, with the ruling DMK and its allies announcing a demonstration. The state government has been at odds with the Centre over the implementation of the NEP and the three-language formula proposed in the policy. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan dismissed the state's opposition as "politics" and asserted that the Centre is committed to implementing the NEP across the country. The DMK, however, accused the Centre of encroaching on the state's rights and using the office of the Governor to push the NEP.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will stay away from House proceedings until a no-confidence motion against him is resolved. This follows a no-confidence notice submitted by Congress, alleging partisan conduct.
'People are understanding it and taking it in the right way. If they watch the film completely, they will understand.'
The Congress party has accused the Modi government of abusing its power and distorting the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) during the upcoming assembly elections in Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and Puducherry. The party alleges that the MCC has become 'Modi's Code of Campaigning' filled with defamation and lies.
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.
'If the Opposition associates itself too much with the minorities, then it becomes easy for the BJP to get Hindu consolidation votes.'
'The reason why they rushed through the bill was they wanted to avoid using the 2026 Census because the 2026 Census by their own decision will be a caste census.' 'The BJP knows that a significant share of the OBCs who will get captured in the census, for the first time after the 1931 Census, are against the BJP. Only a segment of the OBCs are in their favour.' 'So they wanted to avoid the OBC reservation among women, which is a demand of a lot of Opposition parties.'
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor criticised the proposal to increase the Lok Sabha's strength to 850, while BJP leaders defended delimitation as a democratic necessity at the Stanford India Conference 2026.
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.
"Have you obtained the permission of the Supreme Court (which had upheld the NEET). Would it not amount to violation of the ruling of the apex court?" were among the questions raised by the first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy.
The Supreme Court has requested the Election Commission to respond to petitions challenging the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. The court has also asked the Madras and Calcutta High Courts to keep proceedings on similar petitions in abeyance.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed BJP workers after the party's performance in assembly elections, urging an end to political violence in West Bengal and a focus on the state's future.
'People don't like leaders who just crib and complain without offering a clear objective.' 'Theoretically and pragmatically, Rahul has to show an agenda beyond bad-mouthing Mr Modi on economic policies, foreign policy...'
''Women are coming into public spaces in larger numbers than ever before. They are educated, capable, opinionated, and determined.' 'But the more women push for access to public space, the harder they are pushed back -- through attacks like this, through discrimination, through the glass ceiling, through the deliberate denial of recognition.'
The government has released a set of FAQs to address concerns and clarify the details surrounding the Women's Reservation Bill, which aims to provide 33 per cent quota for women in legislatures.
Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema has condemned the recent blasts in Amritsar and Jalandhar, calling them a deliberate attempt to spread terror and disrupt the state's peace. He accused the BJP of trying to create an atmosphere of fear and division for political gains ahead of elections.
The CBI has arrested five individuals and conducted searches across India in connection with the NEET UG paper leak case. Protests have intensified, and calls for the Education Minister's resignation have grown louder. Political parties are trading blame, and the Supreme Court is considering a plea for an overhaul of the National Testing Agency.
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a youth-led online campaign turned protest movement, has issued a seven-day ultimatum to the government, demanding the resignation or sacking of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged irregularities in examinations and recruitment tests. The CJP, which organised a protest at Jantar Mantar, warned of nationwide agitation if their demands are not met.
The DMK has announced its candidates for the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, setting the stage for key battles with the AIADMK and other parties.
Hundreds of TVK supporters gathered in Chennai, hoping to see their leader Vijay become chief minister, only to find the venue closed and the event cancelled, leading to disappointment and confusion.
In Tamil Nadu, the alternative to one Dravidian party has been another, and for one actor-politician CM, there is another. Their initial popularity may owe to their filmi charisma, but their continued acceptance owed to their government's policies and programmes targeting the poor and the needy in the state, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
In a one-horse race, ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam led by Jayalalithaa on Friday inflicted a crushing defeat on its arch-rival DMK, Congress and BJP-led six-party alliance, winning 4 seats and establishing unassailable leads in 33 out of the 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu.
While acknowledging that they needed strong allies for a chance in the assembly polls, AIADMK cadres seemingly prefer actor-politician Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam to the BJP, owing to the latter's 'communal agenda' and consequent hardline Hindutva image, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
MNS president Raj Thackeray questions the fuel consumption during recent election campaigns, asking if austerity measures are only meant for the common people.
The last time Tamil Nadu seriously voted on pre-poll promises was in faraway 1967.
Senior DMK leader TKS Elangovan accused the BJP of nominating Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan for Vice President for electoral gains in Tamil Nadu. AIADMK's Edappadi K Palaniswami urged support for Radhakrishnan, while other leaders offered mixed reactions.
What is missing in the BJP's armour is dominance over 50 percent of the electorate: Women. And this is a gamble Modi-Shah have indicated that they are willing to take, explains Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
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.
The announced election schedule for five assemblies reveals fewer phases, a condensed voting period, longer gaps between polling days, and a delayed counting process compared to previous elections.
'There is a degree of civility, efficiency, cleanliness and cultural ease here that has all but vanished in the squalid, chaotic and rootless Hindi heartland,' says Sunil Sethi.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches at multiple locations in West Bengal as part of an investigation into the operations of an alleged illegal call centre.
With Tamil Nadu's electoral fate decided, all eyes would now veer round to the pending 'disproportionate assets case' against Jayalalithaa in the Supreme Court, and Stalin's own future within the DMK, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Months after 41 people died in a stampede at his rally in Karur, hitting pause on his political plans, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam Founder and Tamil movie star Vijay returned to political rallies in Tamil Nadu on Thursday, December 17, 2025, with a rally in Erode.
The Madras high court's Madurai division bench on Tuesday upheld a single judge's order allowing lighting of a lamp on what is claimed as 'deepathoon' on the Thirupparankundram hill in Tamil Nadu.
The three-language formula proposed in the National Education Policy 2020, is at the centre of the political row between the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-led Tamil Nadu government and the central government.
Given the subdued pre-poll voter-behaviour in the state over the past couple of decades and more, and the inability of individual political parties to cobble together an alliance and announce candidates, or both, to launch grassroots-level campaigns early on, close fights with landslide victory is an equal possibility, N Sathiyamoorthy.
The Tamil Nadu state unit of the BJP has been alleging that its leaders have been systematically being attacked/murdered in the state. A Ganesh Nadar bring to light five cases where workers of the BJP or its affiliate organisations were attacked to find out if there is any truth in the charges.
Bala was arrested on the basis of a complaint filed by Tiruneveli District Collector Sandeep Nanduri, who was also caricatured in the cartoon along with the city police chief, police said.
Twenty people were gunned down in Andhra Pradesh's Chittoor district in a police operation said to be against red sanders smugglers that came under severe attack from the government and political parties in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, which claimed 12 victims were labourers from their state.
