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We are getting ready for it (2019 general elections) and it's true that we are ready already, Haasan said   Actor and Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) chief  Kamal Haasan  on Wednesday said that his party is ready for the 2019 general elections, but are not in a mindset to contest the forthcoming bye-election in Tamil Nadu. "We are getting ready for it (2019 general elections) and it's true that we are ready already," Haasan said at an event here. However, when asked whether his party will contest in the forthcoming bye-election in the state, Kamal replied, "We will teach a lesson to the government to tell them about their duties, but we are not in the mindset to contest it." Two Assembly seats - Thiruvarur and Thiruparankundram constituencies - have fallen vacant after the demise of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief M Karunanidhi and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader A K Bose. A date for the bye-election is yet ...

She visited Jayalalithaa's memorial before leaving for Bengaluru Over 500 police officials can be seen a t the Golden Bay resort, wheer the MLAs are staying. The police battalion has reached with Kuvathur village. Sasikala   visits MGR Memorial House before heading to Bengaluru. AIADMK MLA Saravanan files complaint against Sasikala and Edappadi Palaniswami for allegations including kidnapping, says report Sasikala and two others have started their journey to Bengaluru to surrender before the court. She will visit Jayalalithaa's memorial at Marina Beach before going to Bengaluru. Sasikala asked for two weeks time to surrender from the Supreme Court, but apex court turns down. She has now filed a plea before Bengaluru Special Court seeking two weeks time to surrender citing ill health. Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker Thambidurai says soon review petition will be filed against the SC order. He said, "I am sure Chinna Amma (Sasikala) will come back soon and will r...

When the 61-year-old   V.K. Sasikala   – ‘chinnamma’, as she has anointed herself – is sworn in as the new chief minister of Tamil Nadu this week, she will be the third woman to hold the state’s top political job. But whether she will have a long innings in office, like her mentor, the late J. Jayalalithaa, or a short one like Janaki Ramachandran, will depend upon her ability to ensure the continuing loyalty of her party legislators. On Sunday afternoon, all 136 MLAs attending the ruling AIADMK party legislature meeting in Chennai lined up to unanimously choose her as chief minister. In the best traditions of authoritarian politics, her name was proposed by none other than the serving – and now outgoing – chief minister, O. Panneerselvam or OPS. But Sasikala’s show of strength amongst AIADMK legislators cannot hide the fact that the party’s rank and file cadres, and the wider public in the state, do not approve of the manner in which the reins of government have been pla...

Latest News   : In a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Jallikattu issue, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Friday charged that he had time to meet actors and others but not the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) MPs who wanted to discuss about holding the banned bull taming sport in Tamil Nadu during Pongal. DMK working president and Opposition Leader M K Stalin, who pressed the Centre to immediately promulgate an ordinance to hold the sport and that AIADMK should also press the Centre for it, said that "Tamils will not forgive" the two if such an urgent step was not taken. Referring to the AIADMK MPs from the state petitioning Prime Minister on the issue on Wednesday, Stalin asked if they could meet Modi. "Whom does Modi meet. Those known to him, including those from the cinema world, and immediately gives appointment to them. He has met actors including Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Rajinikanth and Gautami. I am not criti...

People gather in huge number at Rajaji Hall to pay their last respect to Jayalalithaa Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays last respect to late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J   Jayalalithaa . Photo: Twitter (@PIB_India) 13:45:   Tamil Nadu: PM Narendra Modi pays his last tributes to #Jayalalithaa at Rajaji Hall in Chennai. 13:40:   Narendra Modi leaves Rajaji Hall. 13:33:   Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays last respect to Jayalalithaa, consoles Sasikala, Panneerselvam. 13:31:   Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam breaks down in front of Narendra Modi. 13:25:   At least one million queue up at Rajaji Hall in Chennai to get a last glimpse of Jayalalithaa 13:18:   BSP Chief Mayawati to attend Jayalalithaa's funeral 13:12:   Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu): Supporters shave their heads in mourning after the demise of #JJayalalithaa 13:08:   Jayalalithaa was an iron lady. An amazing woman and a great leader. Connect she had with...

Jayalalithaa keeps five poll promises on Day 1 J Jayalalithaa, 68, took oath as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for the sixth time on Monday, and cleared five files, waiving farmers’ debt and providing limited free electricity to domestic consumers. She also started a phased prohibition, providing free gold for marriages and free power for handloom weavers. All these were major promises her party made in their manifesto before the Assembly elections.   Jayalalithaa ’s All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) won 134 out of 232 Assembly seats. Election for two has been postponed to June. The chief minister and 28 of her Cabinet colleagues were sworn in by Governor K Rosaiah on Monday at the Madras University’s Centenary Hall. The list included 13 new faces and four women. S Semmalai has been named as pro-tem Speaker. Jayalalithaa was sworn in as chief minister for the second consecutive term, a rare feat for a political party in Tamil Nadu. Despite the rivalry be...

Tamil Nadu: Blow for Karunanidhi family's business interests? Thursday’s state election results are likely to make the fortunes for some businesses and mar for some others. The biggest and most prominent loser of the day was from the family of DMK chief M Karunanidhi. On the day of the results, the   Sun TV   stock lost Rs 2,229 crore in market value. Its market capitalisation fell from Rs 16,845 crore at its close on Thursday to Rs 14,616 crore at the end of the day. By virtue of his 75 per cent holding, DMK chief M Karunanidhi’s grandnephew Kalanithi Maran   would take three-fourths of that hit. This notional loss could be an indicator of the bad news in store for the family’s business interests that extend beyond media. While Maran was among the first in the family to get into organised business through his venture into broadcast media in the early 1990s, there were others who have followed in his footsteps. After a brief break-up in relations with the Ma...

Victory in Assam could help passage of GST, hope of seats in 2019 from all across India After a disastrous 2015, where it was electorally mauled first in Delhi and then Bihar, the year 2016 has brought much cheer for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The results are beyond   BJP ’s expectations -– it has comprehensively won Assam byand nearing the majority mark on its own, it has won its first ever seat and over 11 per cent votes in Kerala, as many as half dozen seats and 10 per cent vote share in Bengal and to top it, has the comfort of the return of a favourable government in Tamil Nadu. The results will sweeten Modi government’s second anniversary celebrations, brighten hopes for the passage of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Constitution amendment in the Monsoon session and boost BJP’s preparations for the important Uttar Pradesh assembly polls due by February 2017. Most of all, the results are good news for the BJP in the context of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. T...

AIADMK vows free mobiles, laptops with internet, free electricity in manifesto The ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has announced several freebies to voters in Tamil Nadu if re-elected. These include free mobile phones, free laptops, along with internet and free electricty. This time, other political parties including the main opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, have refrained from offering major free schemes in their election manifesto . The AIADMK’s, issued on Thursday by its head and state chief minister, J Jayalalithaa (pictured), promises all ration card holders will get mobile phones free of cost. A free set-top box will be provided to all Arasu Cable TV subscribers. Free internet and up to 100 units of electricity free of cost, in effect exempting close to eight million consumers from paying power bills. Also, a Rs 500 gift coupon to all ration card holders during the Pongal festival. And, continuation of the earlier free...