News Analysis India

Tag: DMK

  • BJP got Rs 10 crore from Mumbai-based trust in ’21-22: Election Commission

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Mumbai-based AB General Electoral Trust donated Rs 10 crore to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the financial year 2021-22, the Election Commission of India said on Tuesday.

    The trust received Rs 10 crore in two instalments of Rs 5 crore each from Hindalco Industries Ltd in the financial year and donated the entire sum to the BJP in two instalments of Rs 5 crore each.

    Chennai-based Triumph Electoral Trust received Rs 50 lakh from Tube Investments of India Limited in FY 2021-22. It donated the entire amount to Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the party which rules Tamil Nadu.

    Both trusts had submitted their annual contribution statements to the EC which put them in public domain on Tuesday.

    Electoral trusts are non-profit companies established for receiving donations from a person or a company and distributing the same to political parties. The trusts get income tax exemptions as well.

    NEW DELHI: Mumbai-based AB General Electoral Trust donated Rs 10 crore to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the financial year 2021-22, the Election Commission of India said on Tuesday.

    The trust received Rs 10 crore in two instalments of Rs 5 crore each from Hindalco Industries Ltd in the financial year and donated the entire sum to the BJP in two instalments of Rs 5 crore each.

    Chennai-based Triumph Electoral Trust received Rs 50 lakh from Tube Investments of India Limited in FY 2021-22. It donated the entire amount to Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the party which rules Tamil Nadu.

    Both trusts had submitted their annual contribution statements to the EC which put them in public domain on Tuesday.

    Electoral trusts are non-profit companies established for receiving donations from a person or a company and distributing the same to political parties. The trusts get income tax exemptions as well.

  • ‘Wisdom does not belong to only one party’: SC raps DMK while hearing freebies case

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday came down on the DMK for some of its statements on the issue of freebies, saying the judiciary is “responsible” and the “wisdom does not belong to a particular party or a particular person.”

    A bench headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana, during the hearing of a PIL against “irrational” freebies, rapped DMK, the moment its counsel P Wilson, who is also DMK MP, commenced his submissions.

    Some leaders of the party have been reportedly making statements on the issue of freebies and judicial intervention on the ground that welfare measures are for uplifting marginalised people and cannot be held as “freebies”.

    “Mr Wilson (senior advocate P Wilson, counsel for DMK), I am sorry to say this. I wanted to say so many things. But I am not saying so being the Chief Justice of India. The party and the minister which he (a lawyer) is talking about. I don’t think that wisdom only belongs to a particular person or a particular party. We are also responsible,” the CJI said.

    Senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for the Aam Aadmi Party, said that the PIL petitioner was seeking a gag order without saying so.

    He said targeting and regulating electoral speeches will amount to “nothing more than a wild-goose chase” if the concerns are over fiscal deficit due to the promises of freebies made during polls by political parties.

    AAP, in its submissions, has said that stopping poll promises without legislative backing would be violative of the fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression.

    “Such a restriction or prohibition, executively or judicially imposed, would amount to a curtailment of the freedom of speech guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) without the backing of legislative sanction,” the party has said in its additional submissions.

    “Again you are going to the direction of those who are opposing and saying that the court cannot examine the issue,” the bench said.

    The top court was hearing a PIL filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay, which opposes the practice of political parties promising freebies during elections and seeks the Election Commission to invoke its powers to freeze their election symbols and cancel their registration.

    The bench, which is mulling setting up an expert panel to brainstorm the issue of freebies announced during elections, would resume hearing on Wednesday. Besides AAP and DMK, Congress and YSRCP have also intervened as parties in the proceedings.

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday came down on the DMK for some of its statements on the issue of freebies, saying the judiciary is “responsible” and the “wisdom does not belong to a particular party or a particular person.”

    A bench headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana, during the hearing of a PIL against “irrational” freebies, rapped DMK, the moment its counsel P Wilson, who is also DMK MP, commenced his submissions.

    Some leaders of the party have been reportedly making statements on the issue of freebies and judicial intervention on the ground that welfare measures are for uplifting marginalised people and cannot be held as “freebies”.

    “Mr Wilson (senior advocate P Wilson, counsel for DMK), I am sorry to say this. I wanted to say so many things. But I am not saying so being the Chief Justice of India. The party and the minister which he (a lawyer) is talking about. I don’t think that wisdom only belongs to a particular person or a particular party. We are also responsible,” the CJI said.

    Senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for the Aam Aadmi Party, said that the PIL petitioner was seeking a gag order without saying so.

    He said targeting and regulating electoral speeches will amount to “nothing more than a wild-goose chase” if the concerns are over fiscal deficit due to the promises of freebies made during polls by political parties.

    AAP, in its submissions, has said that stopping poll promises without legislative backing would be violative of the fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression.

    “Such a restriction or prohibition, executively or judicially imposed, would amount to a curtailment of the freedom of speech guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) without the backing of legislative sanction,” the party has said in its additional submissions.

    “Again you are going to the direction of those who are opposing and saying that the court cannot examine the issue,” the bench said.

    The top court was hearing a PIL filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay, which opposes the practice of political parties promising freebies during elections and seeks the Election Commission to invoke its powers to freeze their election symbols and cancel their registration.

    The bench, which is mulling setting up an expert panel to brainstorm the issue of freebies announced during elections, would resume hearing on Wednesday. Besides AAP and DMK, Congress and YSRCP have also intervened as parties in the proceedings.

  • AAP member Sanjay Singh suspended from Rajya Sabha for remaining part of week

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday adopted a motion to suspend Aam Aadmi Party member Sanjay Singh for the remaining part of the week for his “unruly behaviour” in the House.

    The suspension comes a day after 19 MPs of opposition parties including seven from the TMC, six from the DMK, besides those from the TRS, CPI-M and CPI, were suspended for their unruly behaviour in the House.

    Soon after the House met for Question Hour at 12 noon, Deputy Chairman Harivansh invoked Rule 256 and named Singh for tearing papers and throwing it at the Chair on Tuesday. The deputy chairman said Singh’s action was in utter disregard of rules and the authority of the Chair.

    Soon thereafter, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan moved a motion to suspend Singh from the House for the remainder of the week.

    The motion was adopted by voice vote, even as opposition members continued to raise uproar in the well of the house.

    The deputy chairman asked Singh to leave the house soon after the motion was adopted. Amid continued sloganeering by opposition members, the deputy chairman adjourned the House briefly for 15 minutes.

    NEW DELHI: The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday adopted a motion to suspend Aam Aadmi Party member Sanjay Singh for the remaining part of the week for his “unruly behaviour” in the House.

    The suspension comes a day after 19 MPs of opposition parties including seven from the TMC, six from the DMK, besides those from the TRS, CPI-M and CPI, were suspended for their unruly behaviour in the House.

    Soon after the House met for Question Hour at 12 noon, Deputy Chairman Harivansh invoked Rule 256 and named Singh for tearing papers and throwing it at the Chair on Tuesday. The deputy chairman said Singh’s action was in utter disregard of rules and the authority of the Chair.

    Soon thereafter, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan moved a motion to suspend Singh from the House for the remainder of the week.

    The motion was adopted by voice vote, even as opposition members continued to raise uproar in the well of the house.

    The deputy chairman asked Singh to leave the house soon after the motion was adopted. Amid continued sloganeering by opposition members, the deputy chairman adjourned the House briefly for 15 minutes.

  • Jaishankar to brief parties on Modi government’s intervention in Sri Lanka

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will brief representatives of all political parties following appeals by the AIADMK and the DMK to the Narendra Modi government to intervene in the political and economic crisis in Sri Lanka.

    This was confirmed here today by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi. Citing a July 16 office memorandum, a senior government official said that the briefing by the finance and external affairs ministries was scheduled for the evening of July 19, the second day of the monsoon session of Parliament.

    The DMK and the AIADMK demanded at a meeting of political parties ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament an Indian intervention in Sri Lanka which is faced with its worst economic emergency since its independence. The DMK’s T R Baalu and the AIADMK’s M Thambudurai raised the condition of Sri Lanka’s Tamil population. The AIADMK is a coalition partner of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre.

    While India’s position so far has been to not intervene politically in Sri Lanka, it has dispatched aid through other channels. This was evident in a Ministry of External Affairs statement last week, which said that “India stands with the people of Sri Lanka as they seek to realise their aspirations for prosperity and progress through democratic means values, established institutions and constitutional framework”.

    It is clear that Jaishankar and Sitharaman will brief on their respective domains. While the External Affairs Minister will focus on India’s position, especially in the context of the political instability in Sri Lanka and the role it could play in seeing a stable regime in Colombo, Sitharaman will emphasise on the crippled economy and the extent to which New Delhi could go to pull the island nation out of the morass.

    The government’s decision to brief representatives of political parties comes in the wake of the Indian High Commission to Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay’s assurance to Sri Lankan Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana on July 16. Baglay and Abetwardana’s meeting took place a day after the latter accepted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation that was sent in after his exit from the country.

    NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will brief representatives of all political parties following appeals by the AIADMK and the DMK to the Narendra Modi government to intervene in the political and economic crisis in Sri Lanka.

    This was confirmed here today by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi. Citing a July 16 office memorandum, a senior government official said that the briefing by the finance and external affairs ministries was scheduled for the evening of July 19, the second day of the monsoon session of Parliament.

    The DMK and the AIADMK demanded at a meeting of political parties ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament an Indian intervention in Sri Lanka which is faced with its worst economic emergency since its independence. The DMK’s T R Baalu and the AIADMK’s M Thambudurai raised the condition of Sri Lanka’s Tamil population. The AIADMK is a coalition partner of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre.

    While India’s position so far has been to not intervene politically in Sri Lanka, it has dispatched aid through other channels. This was evident in a Ministry of External Affairs statement last week, which said that “India stands with the people of Sri Lanka as they seek to realise their aspirations for prosperity and progress through democratic means values, established institutions and constitutional framework”.

    It is clear that Jaishankar and Sitharaman will brief on their respective domains. While the External Affairs Minister will focus on India’s position, especially in the context of the political instability in Sri Lanka and the role it could play in seeing a stable regime in Colombo, Sitharaman will emphasise on the crippled economy and the extent to which New Delhi could go to pull the island nation out of the morass.

    The government’s decision to brief representatives of political parties comes in the wake of the Indian High Commission to Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay’s assurance to Sri Lankan Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana on July 16. Baglay and Abetwardana’s meeting took place a day after the latter accepted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation that was sent in after his exit from the country.

  • ‘Governments not toeing Hindutva ‘not safe’ under BJP-led dispensation at Centre’: Yashwant Sinha

    By PTI

    CHENNAI: Yashwant Sinha, the Opposition nominee for the next month’s Presidential election, on Thursday alleged that any government which believes in the Constitution and secularism and does not believe in Hindutva is not safe in this country.

    Addressing a meeting of DMK and its allies which extended support to him, Sinha said they (BJP) have found a scapegoat to occupy the ‘exalted chair’ of the Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

    Sinha said, “But what does this show? This shows that this ruling party at the Centre and the government of India have absolutely no respect for the federal structure of our Constitution.”

    They are violating one convention after convention of the Constitution, he alleged.

    “I was listening to the speech of the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra and he was constantly talking of Hindutva and he was saying that we brought down this government because it did not believe in Hindutva. Which means that any government which believes in the Constitution, which does not believe in Hindutva but believes in secularism is not safe in this country,” he said.

    “Me agreeing to contest the Presidential election is ‘a continuous struggle’ against the alleged excesses of the Central government and the BJP that runs it. Until 2014, I was heading the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance,” Sinha said and added that it was in sync with the tradition that a person from the Opposition should be helming it.

    “Now, a ruling party member heads that committee. It is another matter that he happens to be my son (Jayant Sinha). But I have no hesitation in saying that this is a wrong practice,” he said.

    Sinha assured that he would strictly uphold the Constitution and its provisions if elected to the office of the President.

    On his arrival at the DMK headquarters ‘Anna Arivalayam’, Sinha was welcomed and taken into the party office by Stalin and he presided over a meet of his party and its allies which extended their support to the former Union Minister.

    While Stalin hailed Sinha as a ‘man of eminence’, MDMK chief and Rajya Sabha member Vaiko said, ‘We all are with you’.

    Leaders of DMK’s alliance parties, including the Congress party’s (legislature party leader) K Selvaperunthagai, spoke assuring whole-hearted support to Sinha.

    Representatives of the Left parties and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi also promised support to Sinha.

  • Keep up poll promise, effect cut on rates of petroleum products, OPS tells DMK

    By PTI

    CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu’s main Opposition AIADMK, a BJP ally, on Sunday welcomed the Centre’s move on slashing excise duty on petrol and diesel and urged the ruling DMK in the state to follow suit and implement its poll promise on reducing prices of the petroleum products to benefit people.

    AIADMK Coordinator O Panneerselvam said the Union government reducing excise duty on petrol by a record Rs 8 per litre and that on diesel by Rs 6 will help in cooling down the spiralling inflation and bring under control, the prices of essential commodities and fares of autorickshaws and taxis.

    He also lauded the central government for other measures including provision of Rs 200 subsidy to the poor who got cooking gas connection under the Ujjwala scheme, for 12 cylinders in a year.

    In a statement, the former CM, also known as OPS, urged the MK Stalin-led DMK government to now implement its promise regarding slashing fuel rates, made ahead of the 2021 Assembly polls and further benefit the citizens.

    In fact, prices of some of the vegetables in the state including tomato were above Rs 100 a kilo, he said, adding the DMK was duty-bound to fulfill its poll promises.

    “Considering people’s welfare and aimed at controlling prices, inflation and to bring down the losses faced by state-run transport corporations (which operate diesel-run buses) besides implementing the poll promise, the chief minister (Stalin) should reduce the price of petrol (by a further) Rs 2 and Rs 4 for diesel per litre and ensure justice for people,” Panneerselvam urged.

    The DMK government had last year effected VAT cut to enable the consumers a Rs 3 per litre cut in the price of petrol.

    It had promised to slash the prices of petrol and diesel by Rs 5 and Rs 4 per litre, if elected to power, ahead of the April 2021 polls which it swept. If the DMK kept its word on slashing rates, the price of petrol and diesel will cost around Rs 99 and Rs 89, respectively, the AIADMK leader claimed.

    If the ruling DMK failed to do so, people will see it as “yet another Dravidian model”, he sarcastically said, in an apparent reference to Stalin’s oft-stated model of development taken forward by his government.

    Panneerselvam also pointed to the Congress-ruled Rajasthan and LDF-headed Kerala announcing tax cuts following the Centre’s move on Saturday.

  • DMK moves Bill in Rajya Sabha to fix two-month time limit for Governors to decide on Bills

    Express News Service

    CHENNAI: A day after Chief Minister MK Stalin strongly took up the delay being caused by Governor RN Ravi in forwarding the Bill seeking exemption from NEET for medical admissions in Tamil Nadu to the President, DMK MP P Wilson on Friday introduced a private member’s Bill in the Rajya Sabha to amend Article 200 of the Constitution setting a two-month time limit for Governors to decide on Bills.

    “Some of the Governors are impeding the functioning of democratically elected Governments by acting as stumbling blocks in processing the Bills passed by the Legislative Assemblies. They sit over the Bills indefinitely and some Governors are even usurping the powers of the President, passing unwarranted comments while returning the Bill to the Legislatures. The returning of the NEET Bill in our state is one such act of a Governor,” Wilson told The New Indian Express.

    The Bill introduced by the DMK MP said the absence of a time limit in Article 200 gives the Governor unbridled power to delay the fate of the Bill. Thus, non-prescription of a time limit is an impediment to the welfare of the people. Governors taking a long time to decide on the Bills defeat the will of the people since the State Legislature represents the mandate of the people.

    Pointing out that as the Constitutional Head of the State, the Governor owes a responsibility to the people of the state, the Bill said, “It is trite in law that any constitutional authority must perform its duties within a reasonable time frame.  However, in the recent past, we have seen several instances of Governors sitting over Bills passed by the State Legislatures for an inordinate amount of time, without deciding one way or the other,” the Bill explained.

    “All Bills passed by the State Legislature are for the welfare of the people of the state. The state government’s functioning cannot indirectly be curtailed and rendered inutile by the actions of the Governor, a Union appointee. That infringes the balance of power between the Union and states established by the Constitution,” the Bill added.

    Meanwhile, DMK mouthpiece Murasoli, in its editorial, took exception to a further delay being caused by Governor RN Ravi in forwarding the NEET Bill to the President. “The State Assembly has passed this Bill for the second time and it is pending before the Governor nearly for around two months. When Chief Minister MK Stalin called on him on March 15 and urged him to forward the Bill to the President, the Governor had assured him that it would be done. However, till now, it has not been forwarded to the President,” the editorial said.

    The editorial of Murasoli further said the way the Governor delays the NEET Bill goes against the Cabinet system being followed in India. “The Governors cannot function in a manner similar to what prevailed during the Dual Rule system in the 1920s,” the editorial added.

  • SC strikes down 10.5 per cent reservation for Vanniyars in Tamil Nadu 

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the 10.5 per cent reservation provided to Vanniyars, a Most Backward Community (MBC) in Tamil Nadu, in government jobs and admission to educational institutions.

    A bench comprising Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai upheld the Madras High Court order which had quashed the reservation.

    “We are of the opinion that there is no substantial basis for classifying Vanniakula Kshatriyas into one group to be treated differently from the remaining 115 communities within the MBC groups and, therefore, the 2021 Act is in violation of Articles 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution. Therefore, we uphold the decision of the high court,” the bench said.

    The Tamil Nadu Assembly had in February last year passed the then ruling AIADMK-piloted bill providing internal reservation of 10.5 per cent for Vanniyars, with the incumbent DMK government issuing an order in July 2021 for its implementation.

    It had split the aggregate 20 per cent reservation for MBCs and denotified communities into three separate categories by regrouping castes and provided a 10 per cent plus sub-quota for Vanniyars, formerly known as Vanniakula Kshatriyas.

  • DMK achieved in 10 months what AIADMK couldn’t in 10 years, says TN CM M K Stalin

    By PTI

    CHENNAI: Lashing out at the opposition AIADMK for criticising his party on not giving effect to his poll assurances, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president M K Stalin on Wednesday said the DMK government achieved in a short span of 10 months what the AIADMK failed to do during 10 years of its rule.

    Also, he promised to implement the decade-old unfulfilled announcements of the AIADMK regime provided they are beneficial to the people.

    Making an announcement under rule 110 in the Assembly on Wednesday, the Chief Minister said immediately after assuming charge on May 7 (last year) he signed five files.

    Gradually, government orders (GO) were issued to implement 208 out of 505 poll assurances.

    But on the contrary, from 2011 to 2021, the AIADMK regime made 537 announcements under Assembly rule 110, but had not implemented any of them.

    “Their announcements still remain on paper and were made only for the sake of publicity,” Stalin said.

    While the government under him was delivering on its promises, the opposition party keeps on asking questions.

    “It’s like asking about the tenth standard marks of a 10-month-old baby. Let me tell you, this child will not only score high grades in the tenth standard but also win a medal in the graduation,” the Chief Minister said amid thumping of treasury benches.

    Listing out the announcements of the AIADMK, he said the party neither kept the promises it made in 2011 and 2016 Assembly elections nor fulfilled the announcements made when it was in power.

    “You (AIADMK government) had announced to conduct the global investors meet (GIM) once every two years but it was held only once in the last five years,” Stalin said.

    The announcements on establishing a satellite city in suburban Thirumalisai, an integrated satellite city near Madurai airport, free cell phones to ration cardholders, free Wi-Fi in public places and Rs 500 coupon to ration cardholders to buy clothes for Pongal at Co-optex and other promises made by the AIADMK were not fulfilled.

    Even the announcement on constructing a flyover between Meenambakkam and Chengalpattu, coastal road project from Chennai to Kanyakumari, Aero Park, Mobile e-Governance programme and Monorail project, to name a few, never took off.

    The AIADMK regime made a total of 507 promises, including 186 in its 2011 election manifesto and 321 in its 2016 election manifesto, and despite being at the helm for 10 years, the party passed orders to implement only 269.

    He said orders were not issued for 20 announcements made for an outlay of Rs 9,741 crore. “As I have already mentioned, during the last 10 months, the DMK government made 208 announcements out of 505 poll promises and GO were issued to implement 171 of them,” he said.

    Recalling DMK founder and former Chief Minister C N Annadurai’s quote “matran thottathu malligaikkum manam undu” (even the jasmine in neighbour’s garden have fragrance), Stalin assured to implement the announcements of the AIADMK regime if they were beneficial to the people.

  • DMK MP Kanimozhi slams BJP over hijab row, says it turns people against people

    By ANI

    CHENNAI: Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Kanimozhi on Saturday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party over the ongoing hijab row in Karnataka and alleged that they turn people against people. She said that what a woman chooses to wear is her right.

    Speaking to the reporters after casting her vote at St Ebbas Girls Higher Secondary School, Chennai in the ongoing Urban Local Body Elections in 38 districts of Tamil Nadu, Kanimozhi said, “It’s very sad that they turn people against people in the name of religion. What a woman chooses to wear is her right. I don’t think anybody has the right to decide whether it is too much or too little.”

    Talking about the ongoing local body polls, the DMK MP said that the people are satisfied with the work of the state government which will reflect in the results of the polls.

    “People are very satisfied with the DMK government, and I think that will definitely be reflected in the verdict of the local body elections. It will be a very good victory for the DMK,” she said.

    ALSO READ | Hijab row, FIR filed against 15 girl students in Karnataka’s Tumakuru

    Earlier today, Chief Minister MK Stalin cast his vote at a polling booth at SIET College in Teynampet, and urged people to cast their votes and exercise their democratic rights while voting for the local body elections in 38 districts of Tamil Nadu was underway.

    Speaking to reporters, CM Stalin said, “Mahatma Gandhi had mentioned the importance of civic bodies in the Indian polity. The civic bodies help the government schemes to reach out to the people. People should compulsorily vote.”

    He further said, “A couple of days, AIADMK MLA SO Velumani staged a protest, demanding the deployment of Paramilitary forces in the city. This is nothing other than just a drama.”

    The CM also said, “While casting their votes, people are complaining against certain initiatives and we assure action will be taken according to its merit.” He also said that the DMK alliance would win all the 21 corporation elections.