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Madurantakam and Dharapuram vote today because two MLAs resigned within weeks of being elected and defected to the ruling party. The taxpayer funds the bypoll, the voter is asked to rubber-stamp the deal, and democracy is told to treat it as normal.
· 3 min read
Tiruppur district police booked Tamil Nadu Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin for allegedly making a minor boy climb onto a campaign van and speak at a Dharapuram bypoll meeting, violating ECI guidelines against involving children in campaigns.
· 2 min read
The Congress will invite the DMK and AAP to an INDIA bloc rally on November 1 and run a nationwide 'Vote bachao, desh bachao' campaign from October 10 to 20 — with village-level chaupals to follow — to help voters deleted during the SIR get back on the electoral rolls.
· 2 min read
On bypoll eve, AMMK chief TTV Dhinakaran called the TVK government 'a curse for Tamil Nadu' and demanded EC action against MLAs who resign months after winning to force by-elections. He alleged CM Vijay lured some 25 AIADMK MLAs with promises.
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The Supreme Court refused to suspend CEC Gyanesh Kumar — but its warning that non-unanimous ECI decisions can be 'taken back' turns the next hearing into a trial of the Commission's own records. Power that hides behind procedure has met procedure as the weapon.
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The Supreme Court on Monday declined to suspend CEC Gyanesh Kumar over allegations of unilateral decisions during the voter-roll revision, saying it cannot pass orders on newspaper reports alone. But it issued notices and warned that decisions taken without the required unanimity could be recalled.
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On the eve of polling, DMK leader Senthil Balaji posted photographs alleging that TVK workers are distributing sarees and lamps and serving biryani to Dharapuram voters. CPI and CPI(M) have separately raised cash-for-vote charges against the ruling TVK ahead of the October 6 bypolls.
· 2 min read
Opinion: Dharapuram votes tomorrow in an election manufactured by resignation — an MLA who won on one ticket, quit within weeks, and recontests in ruling-party colours. When mandates become renewable options, the voter becomes a prop. The EC should bar quick-resigners from the bypolls they create.
· 2 min read
Tiruppur police have registered a case against Tamil Nadu Opposition leader Udhayanidhi Stalin for allegedly making a minor boy address a campaign meeting in Dharapuram, a day before the October 6 bypoll. Sections 123(1) of the RP Act and 83 of the JJ Act were invoked, PTI reports.
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AMMK general secretary TTV Dhinakaran said a TVK government under CM Vijay would be a "curse" for Tamil Nadu, blaming him for the Dharapuram bypoll and accusing him of lowering political standards, as the October 6 vote becomes the first electoral test of Vijay's minority government.
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Justice V. Lakshminarayanan began hearing CM C. Joseph Vijay's applications seeking rejection of four election petitions challenging his 2026 Assembly victories from Perambur and Tiruchi East. The court had warned of costs over repeated adjournments and ordered petitions decided in six months.
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Campaigning ended on Sunday for Tuesday's by-elections in Madurantakam and Dharapuram, TVK's first electoral test three months into its rule. Forty-nine candidates are in the fray as the defectors who forced the polls recontest on TVK tickets. Polling is on October 6, counting on October 9.
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Spain's Pedro Sanchez has called a snap general election for November 29 after Congress rejected his emergency housing decrees, cutting short a legislature that was meant to run until 2027 and throwing one of Europe's biggest housing crises back onto the streets and the ballot box.
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Flávio Bolsonaro, the 45-year-old son of jailed former president Jair Bolsonaro, led incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva 47.45% to 44.66% in Brazil's October 4 first round, defying polls that had shown Lula ahead. The two face a runoff on October 25.
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On the eve of the October 6 Dharapuram-Madurantakam bypolls, ruling TVK said it will file an EC complaint accusing DMK leaders Stalin and Udhayanidhi of derogatory remarks against a woman candidate, while AMMK chief Dhinakaran called TVK rule a 'curse' for the state.
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A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant hears two petitions today alleging that CEC Gyanesh Kumar took at least 14 key decisions during the voter-roll revision without the concurrence of the two other Election Commissioners, with one plea seeking his suspension.
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Two seats where voters chose the Two Leaves in April must vote again in October because their MLAs resigned and joined the ruling party. That is not a bypoll, it is a receipt. An opinion on the mandate market.
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On the eve of the October 6 bypoll, CM Vijay accused DMK president M.K. Stalin of objectionable remarks about TVK candidate P. Sathyabama, his party calling it body-shaming. With a cash-for-votes petition before the EC, the campaign's loudest exchange is about words, not the money trail.
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Thousands of young protesters marched in Delhi and Mumbai on Sunday demanding the Election Commission chief's resignation over the voter-roll revision; police detained demonstrators for a third straight day. The Gen-Z-led Cockroach Janata Party announced a major Delhi rally for October 10.
· 2 min read
Campaigning for the October 6 bypolls in Dharapuram and Madurantakam ended at 6 pm on Sunday, closing with a 40-km Chief Minister roadshow. The bypolls were forced by the TVK's own MLA poaching — and the Election Commission's inquiry into September's cash-for-votes allegations remains open.
· 2 min read
The INDIA bloc announced district demos across Tamil Nadu on Oct 13-14, a major protest on Oct 15 and an MPs' march to the ECI's Delhi HQ on Oct 6, demanding CEC Gyanesh Kumar's resignation over the Special Intensive Revision of rolls. TVK's bloc entry was called 'historic'.
· 2 min read
AMMK chief T.T.V. Dhinakaran attacked CM Vijay in Dharapuram, calling a TVK government a 'curse' for Tamil Nadu. He alleged Vijay had lured 25 AIADMK MLAs with promises, blamed him for the bypoll caused by resignations, and demanded the EC punish MLAs who resign soon after being elected.
· 2 min read
On the eve of polling, the ruling party that calls itself a 'pure force' stands accused of buying the very mandate it claims. Tiffin boxes and silver coins cannot purchase what only trust can give.
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Hours before polling in Madurantakam and Dharapuram, the AIADMK has petitioned the Election Commission for a probe into alleged TVK cash distribution, while the NTK's Dharapuram candidate showed photos she says capture tiffin boxes, Rs 6,000 cash, silver coins and a 'Victory Cup' for voters.
· 2 min read
An opposition worker detained for five hours. The Leader of Opposition booked over a campaign video. Complaints threatened against remarks, while the ruling side's own alleged cash-for-votes petition sits unexamined. The bypoll campaign revealed TVK's real machinery: the complaint.
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Tiruppur district police registered a case against Leader of Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin for allegedly involving a minor in the Dharapuram bypoll campaign, saying the boy was made to speak against Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay from a campaign van.
· 2 min read
The razor-thin race between Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro is not a family sequel — it is a warning about how the far right rebuilds after defeat: rebrand the name, launder the record, and let prediction markets declare the heir the winner before a single runoff vote is cast.
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Polls put Lula at 45-46% and Flávio Bolsonaro at 42-45% in Brazil's first round on Sunday — a statistical tie with neither above the 50% threshold. The two are headed for a runoff on October 25, and prediction markets bizarrely price the Bolsonaro heir as the favourite.
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Two constituencies vote on Monday in bypolls the TVK manufactured for itself — the same candidates who won on AIADMK tickets in May now fight in TVK colours, while opposition cadres are detained and cash allegations fly. The circus keeps coming back because the audience is herded, not heard.
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AIADMK cadres staged a sit-in outside the Dharapuram police station on Saturday after the detention of the party's rural district secretary Selvakumar, alleging the police were acting for the ruling TVK. He was released after nearly five hours. The bypolls are on October 6.
· 2 min read
Polling is on Tuesday for two Assembly seats that fell vacant only because their MLAs quit and joined the ruling TVK. The campaign's helicopters and 40-km roadshows tell you everything about whose democracy this is.
· 3 min read
The Keralam government has received a legal opinion that there is no legal bar to prosecuting CEC Gyanesh Kumar for abetment to suicide in the 2006 death of Malaysian engineer Lee See Been. The Home Minister has ordered a fresh Vigilance probe into the case.
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Kerala's top prosecutor says there is no legal bar to putting the Chief Election Commissioner in the dock for abetment to suicide. A referee under a vigilance cloud cannot credibly preside over the world's largest democratic exercise.
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Tiruppur district police have registered a case against DMK leader and Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin for allegedly involving a child in a Dharapuram campaign meeting and making the child speak against Chief Minister Vijay, two days before the October 6 bypoll.
· 2 min read
Three days, over a thousand detentions, shut Metro stations and an internet blackout around the protest site. When citizens marched to the Election Commission with questions about the voter rolls, the state answered with handcuffs. That is not crowd control. It is a verdict on dissent.
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Thousands of young protesters took to the streets of Delhi and Mumbai on Sunday demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged voter-roll irregularities. Police detained demonstrators for the third consecutive day; AISA president Neha Bora was held again.
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Opinion: Murugumaran quit the AIADMK accusing it of favouring wealthy candidates, then joined the TVK, whose Dharapuram bypoll exists because it poached two sitting MLAs. When mandates are purchased, not persuaded, the election is an auction.
· 2 min read