Ahead of the floor test to prove majority in the Assembly, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president on Monday walked the extra mile to meet his predecessor and DMK president MK Stalin at the latter’s residence, heralding a new political culture in the state.
Actor Rajinikanth met DMK president M K Stalin at his residence in Chennai soon after the party’s disappointing performance in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. The unexpected visit has triggered interest.
Even as the DMK finds it difficult to digest the defeat at the hands of a debutant, Vijay, in the just-concluded assembly election, party president MK Stalin, in a bid to lift the morale of the rank and file of the party pointed out that the loss was of a meagre 3.52 per cent of votes and that the Dravidian major would bounce back to power.
The resignation comes against the backdrop of a major political shift in the state. The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), led by actor-turned-politician Vijay, emerged as the single largest party, securing 107 seats in the 234-member assembly, just 11 short of the majority mark. The DMK, which had been in power, was reduced to 59 seats, marking a sharp decline.
A strong wave of public anger led to the defeat of many senior DMK ministers across Tamil Nadu. The big losses show a clear shift in politics as the party now moves to the Opposition.
Under its influence, the Tirupati and Nellore districts would receive heavy rains accompanied by squally winds up to 60 kmph, before the deep depression is likely to fizzle out gradually on Tuesday.
According to the Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai, the cyclone has lost considerable strength and is moving at a very slow pace. It was centred 510 km south-southeast of Chennai and was moving north-northwest at a speed of 3 kmph.
He said Tamil Nadu, being the most urbanised State in the country with a high per-capita private vehicle ownership, needs high-capacity public transport alternatives in all its large growth engine cities.
"Yet another betrayal by the Prime Minister. Even before his speech made before farmers could vanish and his visit to Coimbatore could become a thing of past, the Union Government has turned down our request to enhance moisture content in paddy for procurement from the present 17 percent to 22 percent, in view of the monsoon rains," he wrote on his 'X' timeline.
Painting the EC and Modi government in black, the protests were also a show of strength and solidarity among the allies of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Front, comprising the Congress, VCK, Left Parties, MDMK, and Muslim parties, and others.
