Vijay’s maiden political show gets conditional nod Police Lay Down 33 Conditions

Vijay’s maiden political show gets conditional nod Police Lay Down 33 Conditions

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 10.09.2024 

Villupuram : The Villupuram district police on Sunday granted permission, but with several conditions, for the maiden public meeting of actor Vijay’s political party Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) on Sept 23 at Vikravandi in Villupuram district. Police have laid down 33 conditions that include a blueprint of the meeting venue, stage, and parking arenas on the national highway. They demanded, among other things, details of the number of people from other districts who would be attending the meeting and pro- viding details on arrangements of food and water for people congregating for the meeting.

The party must obtain a certificate from competent authorities ascertaining the stability of the stage and must not use cone speakers or fireworks. It must furnish details of entry passes issued to party functionaries accompanying Vijay for the meet and install adequate lighting facilities and CCTV cameras at prominent locations at the venue. Police directed the party to level the roads with potholes that lead to the meeting venue and to barricade both sides of the entire route to be taken by Vijay to reach the meeting venue. The party must allocate separate enclosures for pregnant women, women, and senior citizens at the venue. There are six wells located in the meeting venue and a railway track nearby. The organisers must barricade the wells and the road leading to the railway track to prevent any eventualities. 

The meeting venue is near the national highway, and the organisers must ensure that the meeting does not obstruct the free traffic flow. The organisers must refrain from erecting banners that might lead to accidents. The firmness of the platform should be certified by the Public Works Engineer, and safety certificate should be obtained from electrical engineers. The party expects about 50,000 people would be gathering for the meet

Vijay’s team awaits police nod for Vikravandi meet

Vijay’s team awaits police nod for Vikravandi meet 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 

Chennai : Actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) is anxiously awaiting police nod to conduct the party’s first state-level conference in Vikravandi on Sept 23, and exploring legal avenues to ensure the grand event is held as scheduled. The Villupuram police rejected suggestions of any delay on its part, asserting that it was adhering to the “routine procedure” of granting permission for public meetings by seeking responses from TVK.

 Election Commission of India is yet to register TVK. Vijay submitted the application in Feb. “The response to police queries is being prepared by the legal team. It will be submitted soon. We will see the response and follow up with legal recourse,” said a party source. A set of 21 questions had been raised by the Villupuram deputy superintendent of police, S Suresh, to the party general secretary, N Anand, on Sunday. They have been given time until Friday to respond on a range of arrangements. 

TVK functionaries see the questions as quite unusual given that only weeks are left for the conduct of the grand event, which is expected to attract more than three lakh participants. The police sought to know, among other things, the schedule of the event, list of dignitaries, number of banners and welcome arches, chairs, details of participants and contractors, power supply, arrangements for parking vehicles, and security for women, children and elders. The organisers are also required to respond about arrangements for parking and sanction from landowners. 

“We follow the routine procedure of granting permission for public meetings. At the same time, all public meetings are not the same. We have sought details on some aspects. We have given them five days to reply to our queries. We will review their replies and take a call,” Villupuram superintendent of police Deepak Siwach told TOI

Sidda’s office spends ₹54L/mth on social media, reveals RTI reply

Sidda’s office spends ₹54L/mth on social media, reveals RTI reply

Sandeep.Moudgal@timesofindia.com 

Bengaluru : Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah’s office spends nearly Rs 54 lakh per month to maintain his social media accounts, both official and personal, according to an RTI reply. RTI activist Marlinga Gowda Mali Patil said he had filed his plea after he heard the costs were “hefty” at a time “development work had come to a standstill” due to alleged lack of funds and the Congress govt struggled to pay contractors for work in various departments. CMO officials confirmed Siddaramaiah’s social media expenditure while pointing out that the sum was far less than the over Rs 2 crore per month previous CMs had spent on this head. According to the reply to Patil from Karnataka State Marketing Communication and Advertising Ltd (MCA) — a wholly owned govt entity — the CMO spent close to Rs 3 crore from Oct 25 last year to March 2024. 

The details showed the CMO paid around Rs 53.9 lakh every month, including 18% GST. The payments were made to The Policy Front, a company which handles Siddaramaiah’s accounts with a dedicated team of around 35.

Rajinikanth praises Stalin for his adminstrative, political skills

Rajinikanth praises Stalin for his adminstrative, political skills 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 

Chennai : Chief minister M K Stalin came in for praise from actor Rajnikanth for his administrative and political skills, at a public function in the city on Saturday “In neighbouring states, political descendants are struggling to run parties founded by their forefathers and many have even failed. But in Tamil Nadu, Stalin has managed to run the party successfully,” Rajnikanth said. 

“This shows his administrative skills, hard work and his political knowledge,” Rajinikanth said. The actor evoked laughter when he said, “Stalin sir, hats off to you” referring to the CM’s handling of senior ministers. “Managing new students in a school is much easier when compared to the old students. These old students (referring to seniorministers) are not just ordinary students but are meritorious students who score top marks. They stay in the same class not because they have failed but because they have scored high marks and are not willing to move out of the class,” Rajnikanth said. 

Rajnikanth was speaking at a function where Stalin released the book ‘Kalaignar Enum Thaai' written by PWD minister E V Velu. Stalin said, “The title of the book says everything. Kalaignar was not just a father to me but also my mother. He was a mother to lakhs of party cadres including Velu.” Rajinikanth said that if others had faced the criticism Karunanidhi did, they would have disappeared. He wanted amovie made on the life and times of Karunanidhi.

 NEW PUBLICATION: Chief minister M K Stalin releases ‘Kalaignar Enum Thai’ by PWD minister E V Velu in Chennai on Saturda

Will Vijay succeed where many others could not?

Will Vijay succeed where many others could not?

T. Ramakrishnan

 

CHENNAI 24.08.2024 

With actor Vijay formalising his entry into politics by launching his party’s flag and song, the question remains whether he will be able to succeed where many others couldn’t: creating a credible alternative to the DMK and the AIADMK.

Ever since AIADMK founder M.G. Ramachandran made his party the principal adversary to the DMK in the 1970s, several players made many attempts in the last 50-odd years to develop a formation that would dismantle the bipolar system.

The latest bid was made by the BJP, which created a coalition under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for the 2024 Lok Sabha election. But the NDA drew a blank, though it polled 18.27% of the votes and dislodged the AIADMK from the second slot in 12 out of the 39 constituencies.

A cross-section of politicians and political observers points out that Mr. Vijay’s party, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), is an untested force, and its founder is an “unknown person” as far as his stand on critical issues is concerned. The pledge administered by him on Thursday appeared to subscribe the party to the principle of generality.

Comparing him with MGR and DMDK founder Vijayakant, a senior member of the ruling DMK says MGR had a long record in politics, initially in the Congress and then in the DMK, before forming his own party. He also had the image of a “friend of the poor”. Vijaykant, too, was involved in philanthropy and helped many members of the Tamil film industry. “But, in Mr. Vijay’s case, you can’t find any such quality, though he has, in recent years, given assistance to students,” the DMK member says.

However, veteran academic G. Palanithurai and former Villivakkam MLA J.C.D. Prabhakar say the entry of the actor into politics will have an impact on sections of the voters, especially the youth, who are “yearning for a change”. But Professor Palanithurai says that over the years, welfarism has turned regressive and not progressive. One has to wait and watch whether the TVK’s policy will be different from the “reliance on doles for political survival instead of addressing substantive issues”.

Politicians and observers differ on the TVK’s impact on the vote share of the existing parties. Some say that as Mr. Vijay’s appeal will be widespread, all major parties will be affected. But others say that for the time being, he has to take an anti-establishment stand. This means there will be fragmentation of the anti-DMK vote which will, in turn, favour the ruling party.

It will be a different game if Mr. Vijay chooses to join hands with either of the major Dravidian parties, as K. Pawan Kalyan of the Jana Sena Party did in Andhra Pradesh by striking an alliance with the Telugu Desam Party and the BJP and romping home in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. Mr. Kalyan is now the Deputy Chief Minister.