Tamil Nadu

Lok Sabha 2019

The DMK has chosen to give tickets to a number of its ex MPs including A Raja, Dayanidhi Maran, and TR Baalu.

Rajya Sabha MP and daughter of late DMK leader Karunanidhi, M Kanimozhi will be making her electoral debut in the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections from Thoothukudi. This was announced by DMK President and leader of the Madhacharbatra Murpokku Kootani (Secular Progressive Alliance) MK Stalin, who released the list of DMK candidates for the 20 seats across Tamil Nadu on Sunday. Thirteen of the 20 names on the list will be contesting in Lok Sabha polls for the first time, and the party has chosen to field only a few of its ex MPs. Following his acquittal in the 2G case by the trial court, A Raja has once again been fielded from Nilgiris, a reserved constituency. Chennai Central will go to two-time MP Dayanidhi Maran, while TR Baalu and S Jagathrachagan return to the Sriperumbudur and Arakkonam constituencies respectively. And although the DMK has chosen for a mix of familiar faces and debutants for a number of constituencies, it also handed tickets to the sons and daughters of six of its leaders. Besides Kanimozhi and Dayanidhi, the DMK has fielded Kalanithi Veeraswamy (son of DMK leader Arcot N Veeraswami) for Chennai North, Tamizhachi Thangapandian (daughter of late DMK leader Thangapandian for Chennai South, Gautham Sigamani (son of former minister Ponmudi) for Kallakurichi and TM Kathir Anand (son of DMK Treasurer Duraimurugan) for Vellore. Other MP candidates are: G Selvam for Kancheepuram(SC), S Senthil Kumar for Dharmapuri, CN Annadurai for Thiruvannamalai, SR Parthiban for Salem, K Shanmugasundaram for Pollachi, P Veluchamy for Dindigul, TRPS Ramesh for Cuddalore, S Ramalingam for Mayiladuthurai, SS Palanimanickam for Thanjavur, Dhanush M Kumar for Tenkasi(SC), and S Ganathiraviam for Tirunelveli. When asked why tickets had been given only to two women, the DMK chief said, "Of the 20 constituencies, we have given them two seats. We are handling this in the way Kalaignar (late Chief Minister M Karunanidhi) handled it." The party also announced its candidates for the 18 bye-elections happening in the state simultaneously: A Krishnasamy for Poonamallee(SC), RV Sekar for Perambur, SR Idhayavarman for Thiruporur, A Ashokan for Sholingur, S Kathavarayan for Gudiyatham (SC), R Vilvanathan for Ambur, SAH Sathya for Hosur, A Mani for Pappireddipatti, A Krishnakumar for Harur (SC), C Soundarapandian for Nilakkottai (SC), Poondi Kalaivanan for Thiruvarur, TKG Neelamegam for Thanjavur, Ilakiyadasan for Manamadurai (SC), A Maharajan for Andipatti, KS Saravana Kumar for Periyakulam (SC), SV Srinivasan for Sattur, S Sampath Kumar for Paramakudi (SC) and SV Jayakumar for Vilathikulam. With talks concluding in February, the state’s main opposition party, the DMK had given 10 seats to Congress including the seat in Puducherry and another 10 seats to its other allies. In its combine are CPI(2), CPI(M) (2), VCK (2), MDMK (1), IUML (1), KMDK (1) and IJK (1). Thus, the DMK is contesting from the remaining 20 seats in the upcoming elections. DMK has, however, asked all its allies to contest from the party’s ‘Rising Sun’ symbol. This request has been accepted by IJK and KDMK. Thirumavalavan’s VCK will contest in its Chidambaram seat with its own symbol while it will take up the DMK’s symbol in Villupuram. In addition to the Lok Sabha polls all set to take place on Thursday, April 18, bye-polls to 18 assembly seats would also take place on the same date. The results would be announced on May 23.

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Lok Sabha Polls 2019

Six of the party's sitting parliamentarians have been renominated from their current seats.

Manasa Rao

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Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister and AIADMK Coordinator O Panneerselvam’s son, P Raveendranath Kumar will be making his electoral debut as the party’s candidate from the Theni parliamentary constituency in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. His name, along with that of other Lok Sabha and assembly bye-poll candidates was released late on Sunday. The announcement was preceded by tense moments as senior leaders of the ruling party met at the party’s headquarters in Chennai’s Royapettah for last-minute discussions that lasted several hours. Six of the party's sitting parliamentarians have been renominated from their current seats: notably, this includes South Chennai MP Jayavardhan Jayakumar, son of senior AIADMK leader and the state’s Minister for Fisheries D Jayakumar. MP Maragatham Kumaravel of Kancheepuram and MP P Venugopal of Thiruvallur. MP C Mahendran of Pollachi and V Elumalai of Arani constituencies have also retained a ticket to contest from their current seats. Quelling speculation on a ticket for party veteran and Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai, the announcement confirmed that he would contest, once again, from Karur. His candidacy had been closely watched, especially since he had come down heavily on the BJP, the AIADMK’s alliance partner, in recent months. Senior party leader KP Munusamy, who was part of the AIADMK's core committee to engage in seat-sharing talks, has been rewarded with a Lok Sabha ticket to the Krishnagiri constituency. Son of AIADMK’s Madurai North MLA and Secretary of the AIADMK’s IT Wing, VVR Raj Sathyan has been given a ticket to the Madurai parliamentary constituency. In a curious coincidence, if he is successful, the IT Wing chiefs of both major parties in the state would be lawmakers from Madurai. The DMK’s IT Wing Secretary, PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan is the party’s MLA from Madurai Central. Former state minister ‘Agri’ SS Krishnamoorthy, whose involvement in an abetment to suicide case had led to then Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa sacking him, has been given the party's Tiruvannamalai ticket. Paul Manoj Pandian, former MLA from the now non-existent Cheranmadevi assembly constituency and son of former AIADMK MLA PH Pandian, has been given the Tirunelveli Lok Sabha seat to contest. Manoj Pandian and PH Pandian were one of the first leaders to rebel against Sasikala taking over the party and government. KRS Saravanan, the party’s zonal secretary from Salem North, is contesting the parliamentary seat from the district. Other MP candidates are: P Kaliappan from Namakkal, MSM Anandan from Tiruppur, G Manimaran from Erode, NR Sivapathy from Perambalur, S Asaimani from Mayiladuthurai, M Saravanan from Nagapattinam(SC), P Chandrasekar from Chidambaram(SC) and M Thiagarajan from Nilgiris(SC). The party also announced its candidates for the 18 bye-elections happening in the state simultaneously: G Vaidyanathan for Poonamallee (SC), RS Rajesh for Perambur, S Arumugam for Thiruporur, G Sampath for Sholingur, R Murthy for Gudiyattham (SC), J Jothiramalingaraja for Ambur, S Jothi(wife of former state Minister Balakrishna Reddy) Hosur, A Govindasamy for Pappireddipatti, V Sampathkumar for Harur (SC), S Thenmozhi for Nilakkottai (SC), R Jeevanandam for Thiruvarur, R Gandhi for Thanjavur, S Nagarajan for Manamadurai (SC), A Lokirajan for Andipatti, M Murugan for Periyakulam (SC), MSR Rajvarman for Sattur, Sadan Prabhakar(son of former Rajya Sabha MP S Niraikulathan) for Paramakudi (SC) and P Chinnappan for Vilathikulam. Across the AIADMK’s Lok Sabha and bye-poll lists, there are only two women, just like the DMK. In February, the ruling party in the state announced a ‘mega alliance’ with the national party. While it was agreed that the AIADMK will contest from 20 seats and BJP from five, PMK was allotted seven parliamentary constituencies. The seat-sharing talks, which took place over February and March, also saw the AIADMK garner assurances of support from the BJP, PMK and other parties for the 21-state bye-elections that are due in the state.

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Lok Sabha Polls 2019

With the seat sharing arrangement of the DMK and the AIADMK final, TNM analyses the pattern of contests in store across the 39 parliamentary constituencies in Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry.

Manasa Rao

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With the seat sharing arrangement of the two major alliances in the state for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections finalised, Tamil Nadu now has a clear picture of where its political parties are contesting from. With 39 parliamentary constituencies in the state and one in Puducherry up for grabs, both the AIADMK-led alliance and the DMK-led alliance have now drawn their battle lines for polling day - April 18. However, a closer look at the seat-sharing arrangement begs the question: In a post-Jayalalithaa, post-Karunanidhi Tamil Nadu, are the two Dravidian foes avoiding a direct contest? The AIADMK and the DMK are challenging each other in only eight of the 20 constituencies they are fighting from: Chennai South, Kancheepuram(SC), Mayiladuthurai, Nilgiris(SC), Pollachi, Salem, Tirunelveli and Tiruvannamalai. Speaking to TNM, RK Radhakrishnan, Associate Editor of Frontline observes that the AIADMK alliance had ample time to reflect on its decision since the ruling party announced its seat-sharing arrangement two days after the DMK. “They could have easily contested in all 20 seats, had they wanted to. However, the AIADMK’s lack of confidence is apparent in shying away even from Dindigul, which they have allotted to PMK. The PMK does not even have a base there,” he points out. On the DMK-led front, Radhakrishnan says, “The DMK has tried to play it safe largely by contesting in northern Tamil Nadu, knowing fully well that they will face off with PMK. That is an easier contest, compared to competing with the AIADMK. The PMK does not have as many resources as the AIADMK.” Interestingly, the seat-sharing arrangement of the two alliances throws up another surprise for the state: the DMK will face off against the PMK, an alliance partner of the AIADMK in all seven constituencies that it is contesting from. In fact, DMK’s ally VCK will be contesting on the DMK’s rising sun symbol from Villupuram, with Ravikumar taking on the PMK candidate in the reserved constituency. The Villupuram contest is particularly significant as the PMK, a party which champions the cause of caste Hindu Vanniyars, will be facing off against the VCK, the state’s foremost Dalit and anti-caste party. This, in Villupuram, a district which has seen plenty of caste clashes between Vanniyars and Dalits in recent years. The PMK-DMK face off also means that the DMK, which has thus far trained its guns primarily on the AIADMK and BJP, will now have to devote a significant amount of attention to the AIADMK’s critic-turned-ally, the PMK. Curiously, the AIADMK is directly competing with the Congress in five seats-- Arani, Karur, Krishnagiri, Theni and Thiruvallur. Meanwhile bitter rivals-- the DMK and the BJP-- will confront each other in Ramanathapuram and Thoothukudi. “It makes sense for the AIADMK to contest where the Congress or one of the other allied parties contest. They know that the ground strength is not great. The AIADMK's lack of confidence is apparent in the reluctance to conduct local body elections, the distribution of Rs 2,000 special assistance, etc,” observes Radhakrishnan. On the state’s changed political landscape following the death of former Chief Ministers J Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi, Radhakrishnan points out that it is advantage DMK. “The AIADMK is in a worse position. There is no identifiable second-rung leadership. Of course, Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi are not there but at least the DMK has stayed intact. There have been no major defections,” he says.

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Lok Sabha Polls 2019

No women candidates have found a place in PMK’s first list that was announced on Sunday.

TNM Staff

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Former Union Minister Anbumani Ramadoss will seek a re-election from the Dharmapuri Lok Sabha constituency in the upcoming polls. He is the sitting MP from Dharmapuri and also the youth wing secretary of the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK). PMK announced its candidates in five of the seven Lok Sabha seats it had been allotted in the AIADMK-BJP alliance. Apart from Anbumani Ramadoss, PMK senior leaders Vadivel Ravanan and former Union Minister AK Moorthy also have found place in the first list of contestants released by the party late on Sunday. While Vadivel Ravanan will be contesting from Villupuram constituency, AK Moorthy will be contesting from Arakkonam parliamentary constituency. The others who have been given a PMK ticket are R Govindasamy, who will contest from Cuddalore and businessman Sam Paul who has been given the Central Chennai constituency. The PMK is yet to announce its candidates for Sriperumbudur and Dindigul. The PMK will take on the DMK in all seven constituencies that it is contesting from including in Villupuram, where the VCK candidate Ravikumar has chosen to contest on the rising sun symbol. The PMK is part of the AIADMK-led mega alliance in Tamil Nadu that includes the BJP, DMDK, PT, TMC and the New Justice Party. The poll pact between PMK and the AIADMK was signed on February 19 in Chennai, where the party was allotted seven Lok Sabha seats in the upcoming general elections and one Rajya Sabha seat. The PMK also pledged its support to the ruling party in the bye-elections for the 21 Assembly seats which fell vacant due to disqualification or death of sitting MLAs. PMK, meanwhile, released its manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls on Friday. The 94-page manifesto included total prohibition, 100 percent duty on tobacco products, mandatory parental consent for weddings of any couple under the age of 21, removal of upper caste reservation and implement reservation based on caste proportion according to 2021 census are some of the most important points in the manifesto. PMK had come under severe criticism for having tied up with the AIADMK for the polls after having levelled corruption charges against the ruling party. Anbumani Ramadoss had met the Governor of Tamil Nadu and presented him a 200-page petition on AIADMK’s alleged corruption.

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Lok Sabha Polls 2019

The first phase of DMK Chief MK Stalin’s campaign tour will cover Chennai North, Vellore, Nilgiris among others.

TNM Staff

PTI

With the candidates list of most political parties contesting in the Lok Sabha Elections in Tamil Nadu out, political leaders are kickstarting their election campaign. DMK President MK Stalin will begin his election tour on March 20 from Thiruvarur, the constituency that was represented by his father and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M Karunanidhi. DMK mouthpiece Murasoli released MK Stalin’s tour programme on Monday, covering all 39 Lok Sabha seats and 18 bye-poll seats in Tamil Nadu. The first phase of the campaign tour will begin on March 20 in Thiruvarur and end on April 6 in Arani. He will campaign for Kalanithi Veeraswamy, the party candidate for Chennai North on March 24 and for DM Kathir Anand, who is contesting from Vellore on March 31. Stalin will then go on to campaign for Thamizhachi Thangapandian in Chennai South on April 1 and for former Union Minister A Raja in Nilgiris district on April 2. He will reach Kallakurichi on April 5 and show his support to Gautham Sigamani, the Kallakurichi candidate. The DMK announced its list of candidates for Lok Sabha and Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly bye-polls for 18 constituencies on Sunday. Apart from fielding former Union Ministers like A Raja, Dayanidhi Maran and TR Baalu in the Lok Sabha polls, the party has also given tickets to 13 debutantes. DMK is a part of the Secular Progressive Alliance consisting of the Congress, Thol Thirumavalavan’s Vidhuthalai Chiruthagal Katchi (VCK), Vaiko’s Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM), Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Kongunadu Makkal Desia Katchi (KMDK) and the Indhiya Jananayaga Katchi (IJK). While Congress has been allotted 10 Lok Sabha seats including the lone Puducherry constituency, CPI, CPI(M) and VCK have been granted two seats each. One seat each has been allotted to MDMK, KDMK, IJK and IUML.

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Politics

Makkal Needhi Maiam responded saying that Kumaravel had not acted in keeping with the ‘democratic tenets’ of the party.

Manasa Rao

CK Kumaravel, CEO and co-founder of Naturals Salons has quit actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), citing internal politics. The businessman had joined Kamal’s core team soon after the actor launched his party in February last year. On Monday, over a year later, Kumaravel quit the party in a letter to party chief Kamal Haasan. Speaking to TNM, the businessman says that while he still believes that Kamal has a good vision for Tamil Nadu, the team around the newbie politician has mired itself in politics, unbecoming of a new party. “The reason for quitting is internal politics,” he declares, while pointing out that the entry into the party of Dr Mahendran escalated matters. Doctor and vanilla farmer Mahendran was appointed MNM's Vice President in November last year. “With Dr Mahendran coming into the picture, the internal party politics increased multifold. When someone is getting announced as joining the party as Vice President 30 minutes before a programme, it becomes very difficult to manage the front end,” says Kumaravel. However, in a statement to the press on November 28, the party had stated that a resolution to institute Mahendran as VP had been passed by the party’s Governing Body and Executive Committee on October 8, 2018. (Dr Mahendran with Kamal Haasan. Courtesy: www.maiam.com) Kumaravel says, “Kamal has a good vision, he puts in a lot of effort. But the team around him is detrimental to him, the party and to his vision.” Did Kamal try to persuade the businessman to stay? “No, I think he’s busy,” he replies. Expanding on some of the issues that provoked his decision, Kumaravel says, “A start-up party like ours should be a lot more agile. But we are the last to announce candidates (to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls). We should have made the announcement a month ago and started groundwork by now. This was the advantage that (former Chief Minister) J Jayalalithaa had over (former Chief Minister) M Karunanidhi. She would announce her candidates well in advance. The bigger parties have announced their lists. This shows where the priorities lie. Things are going from bad to worse. Someone needs to bell the cat. So I said okay, let me sacrifice myself.” On Monday, the party issued a statement setting the date for the Lok Sabha candidates announcement on March 20. When asked if he had voiced his concerns to the party leadership, the businessman says that he had done so from time to time. He says, “I expressed my concerns, my viewpoints and my suggestions from time to time in the WhatsApp group that we have. But it was not even acknowledged. Then I thought to myself that our party is no exception (to internal politics).” Kumaravel also recounts that when he joined the party, he had done so with much enthusiasm and energy, smitten as he was with Kamal Haasan’s vision for Tamil Nadu. “A lot of people told me that I was being foolish. But I told myself that if I don’t go and support him (Kamal Haasan) now, then I will have no locus standi to speak later,” he says. Clarifying that he will not be joining another party, the businessman adds that his stint with MNM had left him richer in life experience. Hours after Kumaravel exited the party, Makkal Needhi Maiam issued a statement responding to the development. Accepting Kumaravel's resignation on the grounds that he had not acted in keeping with the ‘democratic tenets’ of the party, the statement said, "In between the week long process of Parliamentary candidate interviews, Mr Kumaravel’s Facebook page had updates on him declaring that he is already selected as the Candidate for the Cuddalore constituency when the selection process was not even completed.” “Makkal Needhi Maiam has a strict zero tolerance policy on applicants violating party principles for which MNM gives utmost importance. This is more so on applicants not communicating pending decisions to any media/social media ahead of the party leadership’s formal statement on the same especially when there were more than a few hundred applicants waiting to be interviewed in a democratic manner,” it said, pointing out that 'he had not even sat down for his interview with the panel' when he allegedly posted the status updates on social media. Note: This story has been updated with Makkal Needhi Maiam’s response.

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Lok Sabha Polls 2019

The annual festival in Madurai begins on April 7 and ends on April 19 this year, coinciding with the date of polling in Tamil Nadu.

TNM Staff

Wikimedia Commons/Bernard Gagnon [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

On account of Madurai’s annual Chithirai festival, polling in Madurai Lok Sabha constituency will be conducted till 8 pm on April 18. Tamil Nadu’s Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo made the announcement on Monday. This means that while voters in all other constituencies in Tamil Nadu will vote from 7 am to 6 pm on April 18, Madurai voters will be allowed to vote for two extra hours. The announcement comes days after the Election Commission of India ruled out the possibility of postponing the date of polling in Madurai due to Chithirai festival. In a statement filed in response to a petition filed by a Madurai resident, the Election Commission of India stated that postponing election in one constituency will pose practical difficulties and instead offered to extend the voting time by two hours in all polling booths across the constituency. Madurai’s Chithirai festival is an annual event, celebrated in the Tamil month of Chithirai, which is April. Every year, re-enactments of events taken from Hindu mythology -- specifically on the events of goddess Meenakshi winning a war against evil, her marriage to lord Shiva, and her brother Azhagar's anger over the wedding, which ended in him entering the river Vaigai -- happen in and around the premises of Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple. The festival attracts lakhs of devotees from across the world and a good share of them from southern districts of Tamil Nadu. This year, the Meenakshi pattabhishekam (crowning of the goddess as empress) will be held on April 15, the divine wedding on April 17, the temple chariot festival on April 18 and the event where Kallazhagar enters Vaigai river, on April 19. The issue surrounding the election date began hours after the Chief Election Commissioner announced the dates of Lok Sabha polls on March 10. As people started posting the coincidence of dates on social media, the Madurai bench of Madras high court also questioned the keenness of the Election Commission of India to ensure 100 percent voter turnout while it was hearing the petition.

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Food

Iruttu Kadai near the centuries-old Nellaiappar temple is said to be the birthplace of Tirunelveli alva.

Navin Sigamany

I finally made it to Iruttu Kadai to sample one of Tamil Nadu's most iconic foods. Established in 1900, locals agree that this shop is the originator of the Tirunelveli alva. Iruttu Kadai is so popular that they remain open for a mere three hours each day from 5 pm to 8 pm, during which they sell out the day’s supply. The Iruttu Kadai as it nears 8pm and the day’s supply is nearing its end. We made a quick stop there on the way to the railway station to catch a train back after a quick sojourn in southern Tamil Nadu after a wedding shoot at Tiruchendur. There was a frenetic energy inside the small shop, as the assistants made 500-gram packets of the delicacy. Two cashier-salesmen collected money and dispensed the single product to a steady stream of people who all seemed to know the process. You step up, announce the quantity you want in a clear voice, hand over the exact change, collect your parcel and leave quickly. The quantity was important because it was available in only two pre-packaged variants - the 500-gram takeaway cellophane pack, and the 100-gram slurp-immediately banana leaf pack. There is a great disturbance in the force if you do things like ask for 250 grams, don't give exact change, take photos or do anything that is not in the above-mentioned process. This disturbance manifests as minor grimaces from your fellow patrons, who will then proceed to flow around you and continue following the process. These patrons were all locals - other less savvy visitors than me had already fallen by the wayside, lured by the literally hundreds of other shops selling ‘authentic,’ ‘real’ and ‘original’ Tirunelveli alva. The locals, however, converged unerringly on the original shop, which in all its boardless glory was easily discernible if you followed common sense: It was the darkest of the sweet shops. After all the Iruttu Kadai, or Dark Shop. I must say a few words about the surroundings of this little legendary shop. The gopuram of the centuries-old Nellaiappar temple dominates the street, and immediately in its vicinity, you see hundreds of shops selling Tirunelveli alva. Now, a friendly Tirunelveli local who you meet in any other part of the world might give you some sort of advice like, “As you exit the temple, turn left and it’s the seventh shop on your left.” This is absolutely useless information, as it’s virtually impossible to tell which is the seventh and which the seventeenth. I was absolutely amazed by the sheer number of shops that are peddling this delicacy, and even more amazed to see how many people were going to shops other than Iruttu Kadai. But, following my father’s advice to always be charitable in ascribing motives, I can only conclude that most of these people had tastes that differed from mine and my fellow-patrons of the real Iruttu Kadai. Portraits of the founders adorn the Iruttu Kadai As I approached the Iruttu Kadai, I was torn between the desire to eat some alva right then and to shoot some pictures and take in the general atmosphere. The all-important task of acquiring the alva had already been self-allocated to my partner, who diligently followed the set process without creating any waves. In an act of great self-sacrifice, I delayed my alva-eating to get a few pictures of the shop, and sticking my head into the interior to witness the logistics of the packing and stacking. Following the strict code of conduct while acquiring alva In the dim recesses of the shop stood a team of assistants, four or five of them, in banians and lungies, busily packing fresh alva into 500-gram packets. These they then stacked within arm’s reach of the the two public facing officials who did the all-important task of exchanging these for the money of the patrons. Given the steady stream of customers, this whole process was performed with the precision and solemnity of a German-made prasad-distributing machine in a major temple. All this I accomplished in the space of about sixty seconds - even my persistent determination could not take more than this much pressure to make way for the stream of devotees. I turned around just in time for my partner to hand me a portion of slurpable alva on a piece of banana leaf. This 100-gram piece was pure heaven, and perfectly portioned. The smell of ghee wafted gently to my nose, sending already-stimulated salivary glands to battle stations. This all-hands-on-deck situation made sure that the moment the alva landed in my mouth, it was ready for transport to the throat without any contact with the teeth. Which was just as well - it is definitely a bit sticky, and you don’t want to waste even a tiny bit of it stuck between your teeth! As I polished off the little bit, I wanted to get more. Unfortunately, the crowd had grown, and my train would not wait for me. I had to clutch my precious 500-gram cargo of takeaway alva and only dream about it till I got back home.

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Lok Sabha 2019

While the DMDK will face the DMK in two seats, their fight in the remaining two is against the Congress.

Priyanka Thirumurthy

The DMDK on Monday announced the list of candidates who have been selected to fight in the four constituencies allotted to it in the AIADMK-led alliance. The party's deputy general secretary LK Sudhish, who is founder Vijayakant’s brother-in-law has been allotted the Kallakurichi seat, a constituency where he stood and lost from in 2009. While the DMDK will face the DMK in two seats, their fight in the remaining two is against the Congress. The other candidates that have been roped into the contest are R Azhagarsamy for Virudhunagar, R Mohanraj for Chennai North and Dr V Ilangovan for Tiruchirappally. While Azhagarsamy is a senior leader of the party, Mohanraj was the MLA of Salem North in the 2011-16 Assembly. Ilangovan meanwhile is the party's present Presidium Chairman. These three leaders, however, were not contestants in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections when DMDK was part of the NDA. In 2009, LK Sudhish polled over one lakh votes in Kallakurichi which was 15.47% of the total number of votes in the constituency. He came third, after the AIADMK and PMK candidates. The DMDK is known to have a strong voter base in the constituency due to its founder Vijayakant's popularity in the region. That added to the fact that the DMDK is now part of the mega alliance that includes the AIADMK and PMK, has made Kallakurichi a safe seat for the DMDK deputy general secretary. He will however be contesting against former Minister Ponmudi’s son D. Gowtham Sigamani from the DMK. In the 2014 elections in Kalakurichi, the DMK had come second after the AIADMK while the DMDK candidate remained at the third position. As far as Virudhunagar is concerned the DMDK is likely to fight against Congress' Manicka Tagore, a strong candidate who won the 2009 elections with over three lakh votes. The DMDK managed only over one lakh votes in the same election. Moreover MDMK, which is a part of the DMK alliance, came a close second to the Congress in 2009 and maintained its position in 2014. The AIADMK’s P Radhakrishnan had won the seat in 2014. In North Chennai, the DMDK will have to face the DMK's Kalanidhi Veerasami, son of former Minister Arcot N Veerasami. The constituency is traditionally a DMK bastion with the party having won 10 Lok Sabha elections there. In Tiruchirappalli the DMDK has consistently come third in terms of vote share in the 2009 and 2014 Elections. They are likely to face the Congress' EVKS Elangovan, the former Tamil Nadu Chief.

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Music

Speaking at a press event, AR Rahman said Lydian deserves to become a world class musician, the Indian equivalent of Chinese world class pianist, Lang Lang.

TNM Staff

Youtube Screengrab/Cinema Vikatan

13-year-old child prodigy Lydian Nadaswaram from Chennai won the 'World’s Best' title, an American reality TV programme, last week, bringing home a whooping one million US dollars. The news of his win has made Indians all over the world ecstatic. Lydian, son of musician Varshan Satish, has also appeared on Ellen’s TV show. While Lydian said that his dream was to be able to play the Moonlight Sonata on the moon one day, in addition to releasing his very own indie album and composing for animation films, music maestro AR Rahman has even bigger dreams for the young talent. Having already worked with AR Rahman on his Amazon show Harmony, what awaits the young prodigy? Speaking at a press event, AR Rahman said Lydian deserves to become a world class musician, the Indian equivalent of Chinese world class pianist, Lang Lang. “He is not just a session musician, he’s a solo virtuoso. He has to be given that respect. He has played for me on the Amazon series. Using him for little things is belittling him. He needs to be on grand stages with London Symphony orchestra. That is where he needs to go,” said AR Rahman. On the World’s Best talent show that first aired on February 13, Lydian wowed judges with his amazing talent in playing the piano, doling out the fastest version of the Flight of the Bumblebee (at 325 beats per minutes!), playing the Turkish March blindfolded and playing his favourite Moonlight Sonata on the piano and finally complementing it with a remarkable drum track! Appreciating Lydian’s father’s efforts, AR Rahman called him a visionary and said, “He didn’t settle for something small. He wanted him to go beyond. I want him to go even beyond.” The Oscar-winning musician added that he wanted Lydian to become the musical ambassador for India. “India has this image - Bollywood (the word that I hate), dance, jewellery and weddings. After Zubin Mehta, I think Lydian could become the global ambassador for music. He is the next gen and I can see the future now,” he smiled. Founder of KM Music Conservatory, a music school in Chennai, AR Rahman appreciated Lydian for putting the conservatory on the world map. Lydian shared that he had joined KM when he was 8 years old to learn to tabla, his very first instrument. He also observed that while the country now had a world class music institute and a world class pianist, it also needed a world class centre for promoting the arts. “It is a boutique place, an oasis among clutter, in Chennai and he has put the light of it on the world map. I have seen amazing things in my travels. I have seen the government supporting arts, and building inspiring places. We have done what we could do without any help. We have a world class institute for music and a world class pianist now and all we need is a world class centre for arts,” said ARR. “Seeing what Lydian has done, it gives me so much of hope and faith in humanity,” AR Rahman beamed. Watch

Body 2:

Crime

A highly placed source in the CB-CID told TNM that while no other victim has come forward so far, they are expecting the case to move beyond the town.

Priyanka Thirumurthy

The CB-CID in Tamil Nadu, which has been investigating the Pollachi sexual assault and extortion case, is expecting the scope of the probe to go beyond the small town in Coimbatore district. Speaking to TNM, a highly placed source in the investigating team, when asked if the investigation for the case would go beyond the geographic perimeter of Pollachi, said, "Of course, we are expecting that. Based on where the leads take us, we will be moving with the investigation." The Pollachi sexual assault case which first came to light in February as an isolated crime, took a ghastly turn last week as videos of more survivors flooded social media. Based on the complaint of a victim who approached them, an FIR was filed on February 24 against four men involved in sexually assaulting and blackmailing her with a recorded video of the crime. It was later alleged that they were repeat offenders who have assaulted and extorted money from several women. The CB-CID has been searching the homes of the four main accused – Sabarirajan alias Riswandh, a 25-year-old civil engineer in Pollachi; Thirunavukkarasu, a 26-year-old financier; Vasanthakumar, who works for Thirunavukkarasu to collect money from clients; and Sathish, the owner of a readymade garments shop in Pollachi. While several reports are claiming different numbers of survivors, the police say they are yet to zero in on a figure. TNM had earlier reported that there are videos of at least six women released on social media. "We can neither confirm nor deny that figure,” the officer said. “The investigations are at a very sensitive stage and we cannot quote a number at this point. Whether it is 10, 60 or more – the fact is they are not numbers, they are people. We are yet to zero in on a correct figure ourselves. The media may be saying 60 but we cannot say anything yet,” he said. With the state government and the certain police officers revealing the identity of the survivor who filed the complaint, it is no surprise when the investigating official says no other survivors have come forward to file a complaint so far. And despite some videos clearly showing the women being abused, the police, too, have refrained from reaching out to them. "No other victims have come forward and we don't want to go force them to come out. The victim has to come out. Even if we can identify the victim, we don't think it will be proper for us to approach them, it is a very sensitive issue," the officer said. The case will now be handed over to the CBI by the CB-CID, which had custody of the main accused Thirunavukkarasu for four days.

Body 2:

Pollachi sexual assault case

Trade unions, political parties and associations have announced a total shutdown in Pollachi on Tuesday.

Megha Kaveri

Though the investigation in the Pollachi sexual assault case is now with the CBI, the emotions the case has managed to kindle refuses to die down. Pollachi is all set to witness a total commercial shutdown on Tuesday. The shutdown is being organised by the trade unions in the town and supported by all political parties and the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) demanding a court-monitored probe in the issue. Tamil Nadu has been witnessing a slew of protests by students, lawyers, traders, politicians, women etc demanding a fair and speedy investigation into a case that has sent shockwaves across the state. The voices seeking fair probe also rose from districts across the state in the past week. College students in Thiruvarur, Coimbatore, Kumbakonam, Pudukkottai, Madurai etc have also expressed their disappointment with the manner in which the investigation is progressing at present. Students pursuing Siddha medicine in Tirunelveli also staged a protest on Monday pinning black tags onto their white coats. They demanded that those behind the crime be punished severely so that nobody else repeats the crime and sought improvement to ensure safety and security for women. In Coimbatore, lawyers who are a part of the Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Joint Action Committee (JAC) engaged in a court boycott on Monday demanding a court-monitored probe into the case. The association also sought the removal of Coimbatore SP R Pandiarajan from the post and adding his name as an accused in the case. The Pollachi police had revealed the identity of the complainant in a press release and the SP also followed suit in a press meet. On March 12, the DMK held a massive protest led by Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi. Around 1,000 college students from institutions in and around Pollachi staged a protest last Wednesday demanding justice in the case. “We need instant justice, before the elections. We know that the case has been transferred to the CBI, but we feel it is just to postpone the probe,” said one of the students in the protest. Meanwhile, the CB-CID, which had the main accused Thirunavukkarasu in its custody for the past four days, handed him over in Coimbatore central prison on Monday morning. In these four days, the CB-CID had conducted multiple inspections of Thirunavukkarasu’s farmhouse in Chinnappampalayam in Pollachi. The farmhouse is the alleged spot where Thirunavukkarasu used to bring women and film the sexual assault on them. The case was initially transferred to the CB-CID and then to the CBI since there were a lot of digital content to be analysed and probed. The case involves a sexual assault and extortion racket in which the accused regularly trapped women using social media platforms, sexually assaulted them, videographed the act and then used it to blackmail them for money and sexual favours. The incident was brought to light when a college student who fell victim filed a police complaint in the last week of February.

Body 2:

Court

The High Court also came down heavily on the petitioner for his successive public interest litigation petitions all targetted at Director General of Police TK Rajendran.

TNM Staff

Milei Vencel

A plea to initiate criminal action against Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan on charges of perjury was rejected by the Madras High Court on Monday. A bench comprising of Justices KK Sasidharan and PD Audikesavalu was hearing a case filed by Madurai-based trade union leader K Kathiresan who accused Girija Vaidyanathan of having filed false affidavit in the court on July 17, 2017. Kathiresan argued that Chief Secretary’s claim that a letter sent by the Income Tax Department to her predecessor P Rama Mohana Rao, regarding illegal sale of gutkha in the State, on July 9, 2016 was not available with her office was false. Pointing out that the letter was discovered from former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s Poes Garden residence Veda Nilayam by none other than Income Tax officials during a raid conducted on November 17, 2017, the High Court dismissed the case. According to a report in The Hindu, the High Court stated, “The documents seized by the Director of Income Tax (Investigation) during the search at Poes Gaden supports the stand taken by the Chief Secretary. The documents were seized only from the residence of the then (sic) Chief Minister at Vedha Nilayam. Therefore, it is clear that the documents referred to in the affidavit filed by the Chief Secretary were not available with her office. It was very much available at Veda Nilayam.” The judges also came down heavily on the petitioner for his successive public interest litigation petitions all targetted at Director General of Police TK Rajendran. Kathiresan had accused the DGP of having played a role in permitting illegal manufacture and sale of gutkha in the state and so requested for his removal. Noting that his repetitive petitions aimed at one particular officer showed that he was “dancing to the tune of others”, the court dismissed his petition. According to a report in The New Indian Express, the Division Bench had said, “He has been lending his shoulder to others to fire the gun. He has given a brand name ‘PIL’ to make it appear as if everything was in larger public interest. He is only making an attempt to give a new life to a dead litigation by producing documents which were very much available with him when the earlier writ petition was filed. The materials produced by him are not sufficient to quash the order ‘appointing’ Rajendran as the head of the police force. “We are, therefore, of the view that the writ petition deserves to be dismissed.”

Body 2:

Lok Sabha 2019

The BJP is predicted to win 2 seats less than it did in 2014.

TNM Staff

The alliance between the JD(S) and Congress in Karnataka will bring down the BJP tally of Lok Sabha seats in the state from 17 to 15, but there will be no sweep by either the alliance or the BJP, according to a Times Now-VMR opinion poll. Out of the 28 seats in the state, the Congress-JD(S) alliance will win 13 seats says the poll, two more than the total of 11 seats the parties managed to win in 2014. In the last election, the JD(S) and Congress were not in an alliance and while JD(S) won two seats, Congress won 9. The opinion poll found that the loss in vote share for the combined Congress and JD(S) will be more than 8%. While in 2014, the combined share of votes for the Congress and JD(S) was 51.8%, the vote share is pegged to drop to 43.5% this time. At the same time, the BJP which secured a vote share of 43% in 2014, is slated to garner 44.3%. These predictions come after the recent pre-emptive air strikes in Pakistan’s Balakot which political analysts believe has given the ruling BJP an advantage. According to the poll, the NDA will win 282 seats, while the Congress front will secure 136 seats. Other parties- this includes TMC, SP, BSP, TRS, YSRCP etc- will win 125 seats. Karnataka goes to polls in two phases on April 18 and April 23. Udupi-Chikkamagalur, Hassan, Dakshina Kannada, Chitradurga, Tumakuru, Mandya, Mysuru-Kodagu, Chamarajanagar, Bengaluru Rural, Bengaluru South, Bengaluru North, Chickkaballapur and Kolar will go to polls on April 18. And on April 23, seats of Chikkodi, Belagavi, Bagalkot, Vijayapura, Gulbarga, Raichur, Bidar, Koppal, Ballari, Haveri, Dharwad, Uttara Kannada, Davangere and Shivamogga will go to polls.

Body 2:

Lok Sabha 2019

Abolishing NEET, compensation to victims of demonetisation, making Tamil an official Union Language are some of the key promises by the DMK in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections.

Priyanka Thirumurthy

With less than a month to go for Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu, the DMK has released a 100-point manifesto on Tuesday. Several of their promises emphasise federalism and Tamil sentiment when it comes to a host of schemes or programmes implemented by the BJP-led Centre over the past five years. The most prominent of this being the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test or NEET. The DMK has gone a step forward, seeking not just that the state be exempt from NEET but that the medical entrance test be abolished altogether. The 76-page manifesto, released by party President MK Stalin, says, "The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) which is being presently enforced for selection to admissions for graduate and post graduate courses in medical colleges is against the interest of the poor, rural and oppressed class students, across the country. In the interest of social justice, DMK will strive for the abolition of NEET forthwith." The DMK has further sought that Education be brought back into the state list from the concurrent list. They have also promised to waive off the education loans given to students from BC, MBC and SC/ST communities. The party has also promised to bring in an IIT in Madurai, and two more AIIMS in Tamil Nadu. Incidentally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had recently laid the foundation stone for AIIMS in Madurai. Continuing to oppose Hindi imposition, the DMK states that it will strive to make Tamil as a Union official language. The manifesto also states that it will urge the Centre to make Tamil an official language in central government offices in Tamil Nadu, and a court language in the Madras High Court. Federalism Highlighting the ideals of federalism, the DMK manifesto states that the party will work for the setting up of ‘Regional Council of States’ to address common problems and concerns. Besides pressing for the scrapping of Article 356 which provides for the dismissal of elected state governments, the DMK’s manifesto has also urged that Governors be appointed by the President from a list of three eminent persons suggested by the Chief Minister. The DMK has further demanded a larger devolution of fund to states. "60 percent of the total tax revenue of the Centre should be shared with the states. The DMK insists that the constitution of the Finance Commission and its terms of reference should be decided only in the Inter-State Council," reads the manifesto. "The criteria for allocation of tax revenue should give equal weightage for performance and equity factors so that developed states like Tamil Nadu also get their due share to encourage their further growth which, in turn, will support the country's development as a whole," it states. Furthermore, the DMK has also made statehood for Puducherry as one of its key promises in the manifesto. Compensation to victims of demonetisation Moving on to financial planning, the DMK President alleged that the BJP had destroyed the country's economy. And under the section 'Economy' of its manifesto, the party has promised 'Compensation to victims of Demonetisation'."On 8-11-2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, without consulting Reserve Bank of India or renowned economists announced the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currencies which came as a rude shock to the people of India. Subsequent to this, all over the country large number of people stood in long queues in front of banks for hours together to change the demonetised notes. In this ordeal more a hundred persons lost their valuable live. Families of the victims who lost their lives while standing in the bank queue for changing demonetised votes will be compensated adequately." The manifesto does not dwell upon how much compensation will be given or in what form said compensation will be. It has also criticised the present GST regime that has been launched by the BJP government in 'undue haste' and accused it of causing difficulties to business and trade. The party promises to bring acceptable GST rate 'to mitigate all the troubles through GST council'. Reservation in private sector Further, the DMK which has positioned itself as a champion of lower castes and minority communities has also promised to bring in a law for the protection of women against cyber crimes. It has also controversially promised reservation in the private sector too."The employment opportunities provided in Government and public sector units are very low. Moreover, in view of the public sector units being gradually privatised, reservation should be hereafter compulsory followed in private sector too. That only will be just and appropriate outcome of social justice...Hence the DMK will continue to urge the Centre for compulsorily following reservations system in private sector also." The DMK in pace with the multitude of protests in the state, has also promised to put a stop to the Salem eight-way project and instead widen the existing routes. In addition to this they have assured that projects detrimental to the environment will be rejected. Amongst the other assurances are the release of the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, resolving the Katchatheevu issue, citizenship for Sri Lakan Tamil refugees, protection of the state’s fishermen and an improved pension scheme.

Body 2:

Crime

The woman, who was rushed to Stanley Medical College, is stable, say police.

TNM Staff

Image for representation

A shocking scene unfolded in the family court inside Madras High Court premises on Tuesday. During the hearing for a divorce case between a couple - Varalakshmi and Saravanan - from Sriperumbudur in Kancheepuram district, the latter stabbed his wife. The incident took place in the afternoon and in front of the principal family court judge. Saravanan, who is a bus driver by profession, had carried a knife into the court premises. It is unclear at this point how the weapon went undetected. He used it to attack his estranged wife during the hearing of their divorce case which has been ongoing since 2009. Varalakshmi fell to the ground after the attack and the judge quickly summoned the police. They moved quickly to mobilise the ambulance that was parked within the Madras High Court premises and rushed her to the Stanley Medical College. According to a police official who spoke to TNM, the woman is stable and her injuries were not very serious; though she did receive a few stitches. The police immediately arrested Saravanan and are conducting further investigation into the matter. AKA Rahmaan, the principal family court judge meanwhile has asked the police to improve security and screening. Madras High Court is a highly secure court complex. The judge was reportedly upset that Saravanan had managed to bring a knife into such a heavily guarded court premises.

Body 2:

Lok Sabha 2019

With BJP as its ally, the AIADMK manifesto makes a number of promises on issues ranging from NEET to GST.

Megha Kaveri

Going into 2019 Lok Sabha Elections with the BJP as its ally, the AIADMK’s manifesto focusses on a number of issues that have been a point of contention between the Centre and state in the last five years. From NEET and GST to the Mekedatu dam project, the AIADMK’s 46-page manifesto that was released by Deputy Chief Minister and party coordinator O Panneerselvam on Tuesday, makes a number of electoral assurances to Tamil Nadu’s voters. The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) that has been a source of anger and protests across Tamil Nadu following the suicide of Anitha, a Dalit student in 2017, found mention under AIADMK manifesto’s ‘Education Policy’. “AIADMK will urge Government of India to exempt Tamil Nadu students for such time till they reach the standard and knowledge of the Improved New Syllabus, from NEET Examination for professional courses,” states the manifesto. While the AIADMK states that it will urge the Centre to bring Education from concurrent list to the state list, the party also promises that it will urge the Government of India to provide free higher education to all children as a national policy. The Good and Services Tax (GST), which former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had vociferously opposed, was another key electoral assurance by the AIADMK. The party manifesto points out that GST has resulted in huge revenue loss for the state and therefore, the AIADMK will urge the Government of India “to amend again the Constitution Amendment Act 101 of of 2016 and thereby fix a 100% devolution of GST revenue to the state of Tamil Nadu for 5 years.” The AIADMK also promises that it will urge the Union government to devolve 60% of its tax revenue to the States based on 1971 Census. Several south Indian leaders including the opposition DMK had last year questioned the use of 2011 Census for the 15th Finance Commission to allocate funds to states, arguing that it would penalise those states that had controlled its population while rewarding those who had not. In fact, the ruling AIADMK had chosen to not participate at the south Finance Ministers conclave that held in Thiruvananthapuram last April to deliberate on the ‘unjust’ Terms of Reference of the 15th Finance Commission. Cauvery and Mekedatu While the Narendra Modi-led government has been accused by the opposition in Tamil Nadu of betraying the state’s interests in a number of issues including the Cauvery water dispute and in particular the Mekedatu dam project in Karnataka, the party manifesto reads, “AIADMK will strongly urge that the proposal for the construction of Mekedatu in Karnataka is totally given up by Government of India and by Government of Karnataka in order to protect the irrigation and drinking water requirements of Tamil Nadu.” This apart, the AIADMK also assured that it would urge the central government to ensure the monthly supply of Cauvery water as ordered by the Supreme Court. The manifesto also mentions the linking of rivers Cauvery and Godavari and nationalisation of all rivers as a key promise.Furthermore, it would also not allow Kerala to build a new dam across Mullaiperiyar river or to increase the height of the existing dam to 152 feet. Welfare of women and backward classes The party also promises to fight for passing the Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament. “Since there has been no unanimity among the political parties, the Bill providing 33% Reservation for Women, though introduced in Lok Sabha, did not see the light of the day.” Another feature that stood apart in the manifesto is the attempt made by the AIADMK to appeal to the voters belonging to the SC, ST, MBC and the BC categories. The party has promised a new legislation which would implement reservation for the people of the above said communities for jobs in the private sector. The party has also promised to protect the rights of the people from the SC, ST, MBC and BC communities who convert to Islam or Christianity. In a bit to appeal to those from the minority communities, the manifesto states, “AIADMK will urge Government of India not to bring any amendments to the Constitution for a Uniform Civil Code that will adversely affect the religious rights of minorities of India.” In addition to these promises, the AIADMK has also promised to release the seven persons convicted in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, reclamation of Katchatheevu from Sri Lanka, making Tamil one of the official languages of India and full statehood for Puducherry.

Body 2:

Documentary

Two Flags' follows the Tamil French population in Pondicherry as they decide upon the candidate they want to vote for in the 2017 elections - not in India but in France.

Anjana Shekar

Facebook/Two Flags

India gained freedom from the British in 1947. However, the French colonisers left Pondicherry, a coastal town in Tamil Nadu, only in 1962. And when they did, they offered French citizenship to the locals, an offer that was that was taken up by 6000 of them. Today, more than 50 years later, a small community of Tamil French Nationals exists in Pondicherry, debating policies in France, deciding on whom to vote for - in 2017, it was Republican candidate Francois Fillon vs Socialist Benoit Hamon - and exchanging pleasantries in French. Mumbai based documentary filmmaker Pankaj Rishi Kumar, known for films like In God’s Land (2012), a documentation of a land struggle in Tamil Nadu, Seeds of Dissent (2009), a road movie that traces the voices of farmers across the country, from Delhi to Kanyakumari, and the award winning Kumar Talkies (1999) (National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film Audiography to sound designer Satheesh PM), a documentary film that deals with a cinema hall in the small city of Kalpi in north India, has now brought out Two Flags, a short documentary film that explores life and politics in Pondicherry, focusing mainly on its Tamil French population. Having begun work on it as early as 2007, after reading an Outlook article on the topic, Pankaj set out to film in 2012, hoping to cover the elections that year. “Because elections was the only time everyone came out from this otherwise very closed community,” he reasons. Yet it was only by the next elections, the one that played out in 2017, that the filmmaker could make inroads. Two Flags establishes the tone at the very beginning, laying bare the ambiguity of nationalism in the coastal hamlet that is Pondicherry. While the band plays the French National Anthem, the voice-over of a person says he identifies with two countries - “India is my heart, I studied here. […] I joined the French Army and worked in it for 22 years. That is my second life and I’m working for my country. I have two countries. First country is France, second country is India.” The topic of nationality cannot be more relevant today in India, in its present political context where hate is propagated and justified in name of nationalism. While the fragmentation is quite obvious amongst this small population, the idea of nationalism itself stands upon shaky grounds while discussing the Pondicherry story. So did Pankaj’s idea of nationalism change during the process of working on this documentary? No, says the filmmaker. “What I found was that because of a tricky historical process, nationalism here becomes convenient. The only reason why these people are hanging on to their French identity is solely because of economic reasons, not for the country. And that in today’s time makes you feel very odd. In spirit, they are in India but they hold on to France quite strongly. This puts us in a very awkward position. What country do they belong to?” he asks. The documentary follows the Tamil French in Pondicherry as they decide on the candidate they want to vote for in the 2017 elections. Men discussing the politics of a country several thousand miles away in a boardroom in Pondicherry, and in French, in a country that was mostly under the British rule, paints quite a picture. In one scene, we also see a woman desperately trying change her decision from 50 years ago. “Is there no other way my daughter can become a French National? Can you request them?” she pleads with the officer. The reference to the election is made time and again, and people’s hope for better education and employment from their adoptive nation is evident all through. Pankaj goes on to add, “I think what I learnt from these people is that it's possible to have multi-cultural, multi-national allegiances. It has only been 50 years and so it will take time to evolve and become something else. Theatre person Vallavan is the only one who has understood it all. He is taking the best of both cultures and that is much more important. The individuality is something that he talks about. Our culture does not allow us to think for ourselves. That is a very big shift. This is not a critique of Indian system but that it is possible, to think individually.” Pankaj Rishi Kumar And Vallavan, in Two Flags, adds quite a texture to the documentary. A theatre person who trains students, Vallavan talks about how it is possible to take the best of both worlds, to look at the brighter side. Pankaj’s second documentary in this series is, in fact, focused on Vallavan, the shooting for which was wrapped up last July. “I was able to capture their adaptation of Romeo and Juliet play into Tamil, in which they were also discussing a real life caste killing incident. Apart from Pondicherry being the location, it has got nothing to do with the first film,” says Pankaj. The third film that will conclude this series will cover the historical side of the story, one that Two Flags did not touch upon. “I’m getting into the history of Pondicherry, what happened in 1954 and 1962? It will be an overlap between the other two films. The film will take a look at the historical process and the mess it has created. When we talk about colonialism, it is only the British that come to our mind, no one thinks of the French. My third will take a look at French colonialism in Pondicherry,” he tells us. Throughout the film, the characters in the documentary slip into French and Tamil effortlessly. Coming from Mumbai, Pankaj tells us that he never really felt the linguistic challenges affect his work. “I might have had a better emotional quotient but I don’t think anything else would’ve changed. I knew what I was getting into. I don’t know either of the languages. I’ve seen all the years that language does not pose that big an issue. One can gauge most of the times what is happening and I understood the context here. My colleague Vinayak is too good and he helped with translations,” he explains. The film was released in 2017 and has travelled to Madurai, Chennai, Delhi and Bombay in addition to its birthplace. How did the locals react on seeing his work? “The locals loved the film but I got a sense that it did not go well with the white French. The community is constantly challenging the benefits and somehow they thought it was a one sided story,” says the director.

Body 2:

Lok Sabha 2019

The DMK has sought outright abolition of the exam in its manifesto, while the AIADMK is seeking for TN students to be temporarily exempt from it.

Dr. Nimeshika Jayachandran

File Photo. PTI.

The DMK’s manifesto released on Tuesday has called for an abolition of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test – NEET – that has in the last few years replaced every other entrance method for medical admissions across India. The AIADMK, which is in alliance with the BJP for the upcoming polls, has taken a slightly softer stand, but has nonetheless promised it’ll work for a temporary exemption from NEET for students in Tamil Nadu. The controversial exam, because of which at least two students in TN have killed themselves, has led to several debates in the state, and as the General Elections come around the corner, NEET has clearly become a poll issue in Tamil Nadu. Both Dravidian majors have realised that NEET is not just an exam, but a driver of public mood; it’s not an issue that can be ignored by political parties if they want the support of the people of Tamil Nadu. Not such a NEET deal The resentment towards NEET is a symptom of Tamil Nadu’s larger disappointment with Delhi not taking into consideration what the people of the state want. NEET is modelled on the syllabus followed by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), thereby putting students studying a different syllabus at a disadvantage. Not only that, the 49 errors found in the Tamil NEET question paper last year points to, at best, carelessness of the CBSE, and at worst, a casual and criminal disregard for students who took the test in Tamil. Further, when the Madras High Court ordered that students who took the paper in Tamil be given grace marks for each wrong question, the CBSE immediately appealed to the Supreme Court, which overturned the HC’s order. And in all this, the future of medical aspirants from Tamil Nadu was hanging in the balance. The suicides of Anitha and Pradeepa have also led to public anger against NEET – and this anger, for various reasons, is directed against both the central government that pushed for NEET, and the state government which, after Jayalalithaa’s passing, neither managed to block the exam nor did enough to prepare students to take it. A question of states’ rights The manner in which the Centre has pushed for NEET is also symptomatic of a larger issue of centre-state relations. Education is a subject on the concurrent list, which means both the Centre and the states can take decisions regarding it. However, the fact that NEET overrides every other method of admissions, including exams by the state government, is seen as a challenge to federal powers of the states. It is for this reason that the DMK has always stood for shifting education back to the state list from the concurrent list – a point they have reiterated in their manifesto released on Tuesday. But it’s not just a DMK demand – the AIADMK too has called for the same in their manifesto. Late TN CM and AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa had also called for education to be moved back to the states list in the past. Between its introduction in 2013 and 2016 Jayalalithaa had in fact spoken out against the imposition of NEET, and wrote to the Centre four times expressing her objection to making the exam a mandatory requirement for obtaining a medical seat. She had even said that necessary steps should be taken to ensure that the state retained its then existing system of admissions to medical and dental colleges and requested that NEET not be implemented in the future. However, after Jayalalithaa’s death, the AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu made several compromises to this stand. But when it came to their manifesto, the issue could not be ignored. Clearly, the educational ambitions of students of the state – and the growing resentment among voters about getting a better deal from the Centre – is something that no party that wishes to have a presence in Tamil Nadu can ignore. The jury is out on which of the two Dravidian parties can convince the people that they will be the ones who can protect the state’s interests.

Body 2:

Court

The Tamil Nadu government informed the Madras High Court that it was transferring all FIRs registered in the Pollachi case to the CBI, the agency now tasked with the probe.

TNM Staff

The Madras High Court has sought a response from the Tamil Nadu government and the CBI regarding a court-monitored probe into the case of sexual assault and extortion in Tamil Nadu's Pollachi town. Issuing notices to both parties on Tuesday, the first bench of Chief Justice VK Tahilramani and Justice M Duraiswamy was hearing a PIL by an advocate who had sought a court-monitored probe in the case. According to a report in the Times of India, the petitioner's argument cited Director General of Police TK Rajendran's remarks that the case needed special attention. According to a Government Order issued by the DGP on March 13, the case had been recommended for a transfer to the CBI on account of the nature of the crime being extremely serious and involving specialised technical expertise to analyse content on Facebook. Therefore, the petitioner argued that the case also warranted a court-monitored probe, especially since the complainant was not the only victim in the case. The probe into the case involves an investigation into a wider network of men who regularly befriend women online, sexually assault and film them to blackmail them later. The case sent shockwaves across the state last week. The case first came to light in February when a 19-year-old college student from Pollachi approached the local police after she was sexually assaulted and robbed. Based on the survivor’s complaint, four men-- Thirunavukkarasu, Sathish, Sabarirajan and Vasanthakumar-- were arrested by the police. Nakkeeran Gopal’s advance bail disposed Hearing a related case on the Pollachi issue, Justice Anand Venkatesh of the Madras High Court disposed of an anticipatory bail plea by Gopal, editor of Tamil bi-weekly Nakkeeran. The journalist had been summoned by the Chennai Cyber Crime Police last week, based on a complaint by Pollachi MLA and Tamil Nadu Deputy Speaker, Pollachi Jayaraman who alleged that Gopal was defaming him. The journalist had released a 24-minute-long video allegedly linking the MLA and his sons to the Pollachi case. According to a report in The Hindu, the court told Gopal that he could approach the court if he was apprehensive about his arrest again. The court’s remarks came after the Tamil Nadu government informed the court that it was transferring all FIRs registered in the Pollachi case to the CBI 'to ensure that a single agency investigates all the cases’. Notably, according to the newspaper, the court had also pondered on why simultaneous investigations were taking place by multiple agencies. The newspaper also reports that the court disapproved of Nakkeeran uploading such a video to its social media channel.

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Pollachi sexual assault: Madras HC seeks TN govt, CBI reply on court-monitored probe