Showing posts with label Tamil Nadu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tamil Nadu. Show all posts

Monday, 14 April 2014

BJP : Superstar Rajinikanth JOINS HAND WITH MODI

Chennai: BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi today met Tamil superstar Rajinikanth at his residence in Chennai, setting off speculation, but the actor termed it as a courtesy call and said no political significance should be attached to it. Rajinikanth said he was a "well-wisher" of Modi and wished him "all the best" while the BJP leader described the superstar as a "good friend". BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi (L) and Tamil superstar Rajinikanth. Image courtesy Narendra Modi's Twitter handle "This is not a political meeting. When Modiji visited me when I was hospitalised, I had invited him to have a cup of tea with me whenever he came to Chennai. So he has come now," Rajinikanth told reporters outside his Poes Garden residence. Answering questions by media persons in the company of Modi, Rajinikant, dressed in starched white shirt and dhoti, said, "I am happy he is here." Shaking hands and then hugging each other in front of the huge gathering of his fans, who had thronged his residence to get a glimpse of their superstar, Rajinikanth said, "He is my well-wisher and I'm his well-wisher." Modi's meeting with Rajinikanth ahead of 24 April Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu where BJP has stitched an alliance of six parties fuelled speculation that the saffron party leader was likely to seek the superstar's support. Rajinikanth has been maintaining steadfastly his apolitical stand. However, the actor, who has a vast fan following, wished Modi "All the best!" Quickly responding, Modi, dressed in a saffron shirt and dhoti, said, "I wished him on the eve of Tamil New Year. He is a good friend." Modi, who arrived at the airport, drove straight to Rajinikanth's residence where the meeting lasted briefly and pleasantries were exchanged. The BJP, which has been making all out efforts to lay its footprint in Tamil Nadu for the first time, has been desperately looking for support of Rajinikanth to brighten its poll prospects. Rajinikanth, who enjoys a cult status, has been maintaining a safe distance from political parties, despite being lured by political outfits. Modi, who was in Chennai to attend AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa's swearing-in as chief minister on 16 May 2011, had also visited a private hospital where Rajinikanth was undergoing treatment for respiratory problems and wished him speedy recovery. It was during that meeting Rajinikanth had invited Modi to his residence. PTI



Tuesday, 11 March 2014

G.K. Vasan NOT TO contest Lok Sabha polls

While chances of Congress forging an alliance in Tamil Nadu was growing slim, senior party leader and Union Shipping Minister, G.K. Vasan, on Tuesday declared that he would not contest the polls.
"I will not contest. I will tour all 39 constituencies and campaign for candidates. I want to ensure unity and an increase in vote share for the Congress," he said.
Addressing a press conference, the former TNCC president said he had told about his decision to the party high command. Mr. Vasan said after a long time, the party in Tamil Nadu had got an opportunity to fight the elections alone. Congress workers across the State were elated at the prospect and are looking forward to work for candidates in all 39 seats.
On the reason for the party not able to stitch an alliance, Mr. Vasan, in an apparent reference to the DMDK and the DMK, said that parties in Tamil Nadu have opted for "opportunistic alliances."
"When the results come out and the vote shares are declared, those who did not align with us will regret the decision… Some of them were with us for long and enjoyed the power. But they have left at the last moment. This will certainly be taken to the voters," the union minister pointed out.

Friday, 21 February 2014

Release of Rajiv Gandhi's killers breaking news



New Delhi:  The Supreme Court has put on hold Tamil Nadu's plan to release seven people convicted of killing former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, which has led to a legal battle between the state government and the Centre.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said Tamil Nadu's decision was legally untenable, contrary to all principles of justice and "should not be proceeded with."

"The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi was an attack on the soul of India. No government or party should be soft in our fight against terrorism," he said.

On Wednesday, a day after the top court spared three of the convicts, Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan from execution, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa announced that all seven convicts in the case would be freed and gave the Centre three days to respond to her decision, after which, she said, she would go ahead. (Rajiv Gandhi's killers to be freed if Centre doesn't respond in three days: Jayalalithaa)

The government says Tamil Nadu must take such a decision in concurrence with it as Rajiv Gandhi's assassination was investigated by a central agency, CBI, and under a central law, the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act or TADA.

The Jayalalithaa government has argued that the killers had been acquitted under the central law.

Rajiv Gandhi's son Rahul said yesterday that he was saddened by the decision to free his father's killers. "I am personally against death penalty. But if a Prime Minister's killers are being set free, what justice can the common man expect?" he said. ('If PM's killers are freed, can common man expect justice?': Rahul Gandhi)

The wife of convict Murugan, Nalini Sriharan, was granted mercy in 2000 on the intervention of Rajiv Gandhi's widow, Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The couple's daughter Harithra Sriharan, a bio-medicine student in London, has pleaded with Rahul Gandhi to forgive her parents.

Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in 1991 by a woman operative of the Lankan Tamil separatist outfit LTTE, who greeted him with a bomb strapped to her chest during a rally in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu.