DMK President and Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of picking up a "cheap strategy" of stoking confrontation between states as his "propaganda of communal hatred" did not help. Stalin slammed what he called Modi's "imaginary tales and bags of lies" by alleging that leaders of southern states including Tamil Nadu (INDIA bloc constituents) were speaking in a derogatory manner, against the people of Uttar Pradesh. Days ago, PM Modi had alleged in a poll rally that Samajwadi Party and the Congress's southern allies insulted Uttar Pradesh and Sanatana Dharma but the two parties remained quiet. The DMK president alleged that it was the BJP that supported and encouraged fake news items, such as the false claims made by "YouTubers like Manish Kashyap" of assault on guest workers in Tamil Nadu. Such fake claims were hate propaganda aimed at creating divisions in society. Kashyap was arrested last year by Tamil Nadu police for alleged circulation of
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Tuesday said that he has proved through deeds that the current DMK government is one that has delivered. His "consistent" action since the last three years of his rule resulted in ensuring smiles on the people's faces, especially the poor, Stalin, who is also the DMK President, said. Stalin means hard work I have proved in three years that M K Stalin means action, deeds and not mere rhetoric," the Chief Minister said in a video posted on his social media platform X. He has completed three years in office as Chief Minister and May 7 marks the commencement of the fourth year. I, Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin, took charge as Chief Minister with your great support and trust. This regime has completed three years and has stepped into the fourth year, he said. During these three years, he said that he has implemented several schemes and welfare initiatives for the benefit of the people. And the happiness on the faces of the beneficiaries who gain on
DMK President and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday expressed confidence of the INDIA bloc winning the Lok Sabha polls and said the new dispensation will fulfill the pledge to uplift Other Backward Classes, the Scheduled Castes and Tribes. Tamil Nadu has played a pivotal role in championing social justice, Stalin said in his address at the social justice conference (Samajik Nyay Sammelan) held by Samruddha Bharat Foundation in the national capital on Wednesday. The Chief Minister's address was read out at the conference by DMK Rajya Sabha MP, P Wilson. The DMK chief recalled the era of the Justice Party government, dating back to 1921 and said it stands as a beacon of social justice with the introduction of reservations for the underprivileged through the communal G.O (Government Order). Post-independence, "amidst threats to the reservation system," the resolute protests by the Dravidian movement, famously known as "the happenings in Madras," catalysed the first ...
The EC has revised the voter turnout in Tamil Nadu for the Lok Sabha polls held on Friday to 69.46 per cent, from the earlier 72 per cent. State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Satyabrata Sahoo had on Friday said the state witnessed a turnout of 72.09 per cent. However, officials had then indicated there could be changes in the turnout figure. Asked about the difference in the figures, officials on Saturday said the earlier "figures were based on sample data from some polling stations," and that the accurate numbers were arrived upon past midnight. Of the 39 constituencies, Dharmapuri topped with an 81.48 per cent turnout while Chennai Central recorded the lowest at 53.91 per cent, according to latest EC data.
Polling began at 7 AM on Friday in all the 39 Lok Sabha constituencies in Tamil Nadu for the 2024 general election, amid tight security arrangements. People arrived at the polling stations enthusiastically and waited for their turn to vote, with personnel of the state and central police forces standing guard. The fate of 950 candidates will be decided by about 6.23 crore voters who are set to exercise their franchise in nearly 68,000 polling stations. DMK's Dayanidhi Maran (Central Chennai), A Raja (Nilgiris) and Kanimozhi (Thoothukudi), BJP's K Annamalai (Coimbatore), L Murugan (Nilgiris) and Tamilisai Soundararajan (South Chennai), former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam (Ramanathapuram), Congress party's Karti Chidambaram (Sivaganga), AIADMK's J Jayavardhan (South Chennai) and AMMK chief TTV Dhinakaran (Theni) are among the prominent candidates. Polling also began in neighbouring Puducherry where the Congress and BJP are in a direct fight. Voting was delayed by an hour in some ..
General Elections 2024 news updates: Catch all the news updates on the announcements related to Lok Sabha polls here
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's single day campaign in the state has "beaten all the election trips" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the state to seek votes. Referring to the April 12 meet addressed at nearby Coimbatore by him and Gandhi, Stalin said the turnout and the rally was magnificent like the movie "Baahubali", and the "total BJP was trumped," by a single public meeting. Further, the chief minister said Gandhi's single day campaign in Tamil Nadu has "beaten all the election trips" of Modi to the state to seek votes. "Rahul Gandhi has proven that Tamil Nadu people can be won over (ruled) only through love." Citing Gandhi's comment in Coimbatore that the Lok Sabha polls are an ideological battle, the DMK chief said he has been all along stating that the election is between the INDIA bloc -- committed to upholding social justice -- and the BJP front which is sowing seeds of "discrimination" in society. "Rahul Gandhi's spee
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president M K Stalin on Saturday said the INDI alliance will deliver a sweet victory on June 4. Stalin who was pleasantly surprised over receiving Mysore Pak from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during the latter's visit to the state on Friday, expressed that he was touched by his brother's sweet gesture." The two leaders had addressed a poll rally in Coimbatore. Posting a video of Gandhi jumping over a road divider and rapidly walking towards a sweet shop in Coimbatore to purchase Mysore Pak for him, Stalin said in a post on the social media platform X quoting a couplet from Thirukkural on the possession of love: touched and overwhelmed by the 'sweet gesture' from my brother @RahulGandhi. On June 4th, #INDIA will surely deliver him a sweet victory! the DMK president said. In the video that went viral on social media, Rahul Gandhi could be seen jumping over a road divider, crossing the road and walking swiftly into a sweet shop. When asked what he w
Senior BJP leader Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday took exception to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin's "migratory bird" jibe made at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his recent visits to the state, saying the very usage was not proper. She also slammed the ruling DMK over issues including the drug menace in the state. "The chief minister says the PM is coming to Tamil Nadu like a migratory bird. Anyone can travel anywhere in the country. The very usage is wrong... CM is in such a situation that he makes remarks like these," she said addressing an election meeting here. She was canvassing votes for the party's Krishnagiri nominee for the April 19 Lok Sabha polls, C Narasaimhan here. The PM has brought investments and the Defence Corridor, which has benefited Hosur in the district, but "they (DMK) come here only for collection," she said. In an apparent reference to the DMK's first family, she said there was much "proof" that alleged drug kingpin Jafar Sadiq, arrested by the NCB i
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will address election rallies in Tamil Nadu on Friday, in his first set of such engagements after the announcement of the poll schedule. The Wayanad MP will address a public meeting in Coimbatore along with DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin. He will also address a rally in Tirunelveli. The Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu will be held on April 19.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for accusing his party DMK of being corrupt and said Modi would be the right person to become "chancellor of the university of corruption". Responding to the prime minister's charge about dynastic politics and corruption in the state, Stalin, the DMK president, said, "If a university for corruption is to be established, then Modi will be the right person to become its chancellor." "One may ask why. The answer is from electoral bonds, to PM Cares Fund and the BJP 'washing machine' of saffronising tainted leaders, the BJP is corrupt," he said, while addressing an election rally here on Wednesday. On the prime minister's charge that the DMK was against Tamil culture, Stalin shot back saying, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi avargale, please don't study in Whatsapp university. Our Tamil culture is Yaadhum oore, yaavarum kelir (For us all towns are one, all are our kin)." It was the prime minister who practiced
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday took strong exception to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's campaign in the state and likened the latter's visits to a migratory bird arriving at the sanctuary during season and posed him questions on a series of issues. The Prime Minister has come to the state with a set of guarantees for the 2024 general elections as his Gujarat model and Chaukidar role has been exposed, he said. Prime Minister Modi himself hovers over Tamil Nadu during the election season just like migratory birds come to the sanctuary during the season. will you give these guarantees? Stalin, who is president of the ruling DMK, asked in a post on the social media platform X. He sought to know from Modi, if he could guarantee conducting caste-wise census, remove the ceiling on reservation, strictly implement reservation for SC, ST and OBC, exempt Tamil Nadu from National Eligibility-cum-entrance test (NEET), never to impose Hindi and Sanskrit, and transferring ...
DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Sunday said that the INDIA bloc, if voted to power after Lok Sabha polls, will provide statehood to Puducherry. Addressing an election rally here seeking support for Congress candidate and present MP V Vaithilingam, he said the DMK and Congress are firm that Puducherry should be made a full-fledged state. Puducherry Chief Minister N Rangasamy is a "puppet in the hands of the Centre," Stalin said and added, "We are keen that the rights of not only bigger states like Tamil Nadu, but also the rights of union territories like Puducherry should be protected." Stating that Puducherry had not gained during the ten-year rule by the BJP at the Centre, the Tamil Nadu chief minister said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi was campaigning only in the name of religion and caste. "Modi has not highlighted any measure to ameliorate the lot of the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and weaker sections, but has been campaigning in the nam
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has said that the BJP has done a "somersault" on the Katchatheevu issue since the Lok Sabha polls are round the corner. Stalin claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not have the guts to neither condemn Sri Lanka over fishermen arrests nor oppose China on its claims over Arunachal Pradesh. When that is the case, how can he talk about Katchatheevu, he said. In an election rally here on Tuesday, the president of the ruling DMK hit out at Modi for staging a "drama" and coming up with "stories" on the Katchatheevu issue and dubbed the disclosures by the Centre on the matter under the RTI Act as "wrong information." He asked how the government had given "wrong information" concerning the nation's security under the RTI Act to an individual belonging to the BJP (Tamil Nadu state chief K Annamalai). The BJP government had earlier failed to provide answers on Katchatheevu by stating that the subject was subjudice as the matter was pending before
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Friday attacked the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre and appealed to people here to vote for the INDIA bloc if they want democracy and social justice to prevail in the country. Flaying Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Stalin said that if her claim of not having enough money to contest the Lok Sabha polls was true, the question is what happened to the fund the BJP received through electoral bonds. "Madam, if you want to contest the polls, you should meet the people and should toil hard for people's welfare. Since you know the result that the people will not vote for you, you have decided not to contest," he said. At a recent event in New Delhi, Sitharaman had commented that she declined the offer of the BJP to contest elections, pleading that she did not have the "kind of funds" required for the fighting the Lok Sabha polls. Canvassing votes for the DMK's Dharmapuri candidate A Mani and Congress nomin
DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin will launch his party's campaign for the April 19 Lok Sabha polls, from this central district on Friday. Stalin, a key leader of the opposition INDIA bloc, will canvass votes for the party-led bloc's Tiruchirappalli candidate, MDMK leader Durai Vaiko and the DMK's Arun Nehru in nearby Perambalur, according to the tour schedule of the ruling party chief. The DMK leads the multi-party Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA), which had swept the 2019 elections. It had won 38 of the 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu then, besides the neighbouring Puducherry segment. Durai is the son of MDMK founder Vaiko and the Tiruchirappalli constituency has been allotted to the party by the DMK as part of the poll pact. Congress' Su Thirunavukkarasar represents the segment in the outgoing House. After launching his poll campaign from here, Stalin will embark on a state-wide tour, covering all 39 LS seats in the state, besides Puducherry, in the comin
Known by its acronym I.N.D.I.A. - or Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance - the coalition of more than 20 parties has been beset by defections to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party
DMK will contest in 22 seats; Congress 9 seats; VC, CPI and CPIM will contest 2 seats each, while MDMK and IUML will contest 1 seat each
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider a plea of the Tamil Nadu government against the refusal of Governor RN Ravi to appoint senior DMK leader K Ponmudi as a minister in the state cabinet. The governor has recently refused to re-induct the senior DMK leader and former Higher Education Minister into the state cabinet, saying it would be against constitutional morality. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra took note of the submissions of senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the state government, there was some urgency in the matter which should be listed for hearing. Please send an email. I will look into the email, the CJI said. The governor, in a letter to Chief Minister MK Stalin, said the apex court only suspended the conviction Ponmudi by way of an interim order. The governor refused to appoint the leader in the Stalin cabinet. Recently, the state government reinstated Ponmudi as a legislator after the ..
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Tuesday dismissed the Citizenship (Amendment) Act as 'divisive and bereft of any use' and asserted that it will not be implemented in the state. Hitting out at the BJP regime at the Centre for notifying the rules for implementing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) 'in a haste' when the Lok Sabha polls are round the corner, Stalin said the CAA and its rules went against the basic structure of the Constitution. "There is not going to be any use or benefits due to the CAA, which only paves the way for creating divisions among the Indian people. The stand of the government is that this law is completely unwarranted; it is one that must be repealed." Hence, "the Tamil Nadu government will not give any opportunity in any manner to implement the CAA in Tamil Nadu," he asserted in an official release. Stalin, also president of the ruling DMK, reiterated that the CAA went against pluralism, secularism, minority communities and the Sri Lankan Tamil