- 1 day ago
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Joseph Vijay on Wednesday won the crucial floor test in the state assembly with the support of 144 MLAs.
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00:00Let's begin with some international breaking news.
00:03As we speak, Donald Trump is currently in Beijing in what is being deemed as truly a historic visit.
00:10He got a grand welcome as he touched down in Beijing just moments ago.
00:14Those images on your screens as well.
00:17Trump will be there for two days and of course the entire spotlight will be on his meeting with Xi
00:23Jinping.
00:23And what really emerges from that meeting?
00:25This is Trump's first visit to China since 2017.
00:30There's of course been a lot of back and forth between China and America in the last one year.
00:36But now with this particular meeting set to take place and the US president in China,
00:40it assumes significance because of the tariff fight.
00:43It assumes significance because of the West Asia tensions and also the fact that China is close to Iran.
00:50So this could help in pushing those negotiations as well.
00:53But there is tariffs, AI that will be spoken of.
00:57A trade board that reportedly will also be discussed between US and China.
01:03First images on your screens there of the moment when Trump touched down in Beijing to, as you can see,
01:08a grand welcome where hundreds of people with the flags of America, of China, greeted President Trump.
01:17Pranayupadi of India Today Global is joining us with more details on this.
01:21Pranayupadi, if this meet is successful, there will be takeaways from this huddle for the entire world,
01:27especially looking at what's happening in West Asia, the tariff showdown and so much more.
01:32Absolutely, Akshita.
01:33This is going to be a very significant and very important meeting of these two leaders,
01:36President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump.
01:38And what a timing for this meeting because President Donald Trump must have expected or he wanted,
01:44you know, to get out of the Iran war, Iran conflict and with the success of a diplomatic deal or
01:51a diplomatic win.
01:52But it did not happen.
01:53And in fact, he's still, you know, in the so-called quagmire of the state of Hormuz.
01:58But he chose to visit China because his visit to China was deferred.
02:05It was earlier scheduled in March.
02:07It got deferred because of the West Asia conflict.
02:09And now he is in Beijing for next two days.
02:12This meeting is going to be important for the global economy, for the global technological advancement.
02:17And that's why President Donald Trump has taken over a dozen CEOs along with him,
02:23which includes Elon Musk and NVIDIA chief Jensen Huang and many other tech, you know, giant CEOs,
02:31including the Indian origin Sanjay Marhotra of Micron Technology is also there.
02:36So it has a wide, you know, ramification and wide, you know, outcomes expected from this meeting.
02:41But it is also expected to have some kind of a headway as far as the West Asia situation is
02:47concerned
02:48because China holds an important influence over Iran and Iran will be an important issue
02:54on the bilateral negotiation and bilateral talks between President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump.
03:00Okay. All right.
03:01We'll track very closely the big takeaways of that meeting.
03:04Donald Trump landing in Beijing in China along with the First Lady.
03:09We will continue tracking that very closely.
03:11Thanks, Pranay, for those details.
03:28After 10 days of no consensus, will the Congress High Command finally take a call
03:33on who will be the Chief Minister of Kerala?
03:36Well, as we speak, Rahul Gandhi and Malik Arjun Kharge are holding a meeting
03:41in the national capital at Kharge's residence.
03:44We understand that KPCC leaders are also coming together at the UDF,
03:48at the Congress office in Tiruvannantapuram.
03:50So it looks like, it looks like the decks are cleared finally for their decision to be made.
03:57But who is ahead?
03:58Who could be likely the Chief Minister of Kerala?
04:02I'll bring in our reporters on this broadcast.
04:04We've got at this point with us Shibimol, who's joining us live from Tiruvannantapuram
04:10and also here in Delhi, as every update is coming in.
04:14We have Rahul Gautam, who's joining us right now.
04:17Rahul, I'm going to begin with you because as we speak,
04:19that meeting between Rahul Gandhi and Kharge is underway.
04:22And this is it, Rahul.
04:23We understand it is in this meeting that the final decision will be taken.
04:30Well, in all likelihood, we would know the name of next Kerala Chief Minister.
04:35You know, after this meeting, we've been informed that Malika Arjun, Kharge and Rahul Gandhi,
04:40they are holding deliberations at this point of time as to who they're going to make
04:44or appoint as the next Chief Minister.
04:47See, we have to understand that what's, you know, making it so delayed as far as this announcement is concerned.
04:53We all know that there is an observer's report that has already been submitted to Congress President and Rahul Gandhi.
05:00And as per sources, majority of MLAs, they are in favour of Mr. Casey Benagopal.
05:05But there is a sense on the ground in favour of Viti Satishan,
05:09which many believe has toiled on ground zero, has worked tirelessly for the party,
05:13and therefore he should be rightfully rewarded for, you know, for his work.
05:18So clearly, as far as, you know, these two things are concerned,
05:21and that's where the party would have to strike a balance between these two things.
05:25How they would be, you know, honouring the opinion of Congress MLAs,
05:30but at the same time also taking, you know, due consideration of aspirations of Congress workers,
05:36Congress supporters, who many of them would want somebody like Viti Satishan,
05:41or possibly Ramesh Chhenni Tala.
05:43So clearly, that's what it's making it so delayed.
05:46We've been informed that after this meeting,
05:49I can tell our viewers that the wider consultations are over.
05:53The opinion of all the MLAs have already been taken in,
05:56the opinion of all the ex-PCCs, working presidents,
06:00disability committee chairpersons, and also some of the veteran Congress leaders of Kerala.
06:03You know, this comes down to one issue.
06:05MLAs support versus public sentiment.
06:07MLAs support with Casey Benagopal, public sentiment with Viti Satishan,
06:11which is what makes this a difficult decision yet, yes, for the Congress,
06:15and yet there'll be questions on why it's taken so long.
06:18You know, you've let this drag on, which means the factionalism will only build,
06:22the emotion will only build.
06:24Shibhi Moll is joining us live from Tiruvannathapuram,
06:26where we understand that all of the KPCC leaders, the camps are coming together, Shibhi.
06:31What are your sources telling you?
06:32I know this is a hard one, but is there any one leader who's ahead in this race right now,
06:36as per your sources?
06:42Akshita, I've made a call to all the three camps,
06:44and all of them are so confident.
06:46They, in fact, took out some examples and certain points also to, you know,
06:50make us convinced that their leader is being chosen.
06:53All the three residences, like Casey Benagopal is in Delhi,
06:55but otherwise, both Ramesh Svintala and VD Sadishan's house is filled with people,
07:00supporters coming in huge numbers.
07:01That's the scene at KPCC headquarters, Indira Bhavan and Tiruvannathapuram also.
07:06All of them coming in.
07:07You can hear different narratives here.
07:09That's the issue, actually.
07:10All of them have their own leader.
07:12All of them have their choices.
07:13So, all of them taking their leader's name with clear-cut justification.
07:17But, you know, this is absolutely turning into a last-minute thriller.
07:21It's like a Super Bowl game right now.
07:23I'm sure all the candlelights are in front of the TV waiting for that announcement,
07:26where all the three leaders met High Command and came out and addressed a press meet also.
07:30We saw all of them, all the people, you know, coming and sitting in front of the TV
07:34and waiting for that announcement.
07:36Today, also, that's the scene.
07:37You know, the emotions are really high because it's been a long, long wait.
07:41At this point, when you speak to some Congress workers,
07:43they also say that now we don't care who the leader is, but just give us one name
07:46because it's been 10 days and we've not been able to celebrate that victory.
07:50People are questioning us, asking us, who is your chief minister?
07:52Where is the party's chief minister?
07:54You have been in opposition for 10 years, so why wasn't that decision already made?
07:58This looks really bad on party because this is a state that has given a clear mandate.
08:02102 seats.
08:03It's not easy to get 102 seats in a contest like in Canada.
08:07You know, you made a very good point yesterday, Shibi,
08:08that in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, where it wasn't a clear mandate,
08:11they've managed to form the government today, even the vote of confidence is done.
08:15And yet, in a state where there's a decisive mandate,
08:18the high command has been undecisive.
08:20And so, as a result of that, there's no decision yet on who will be the chief minister.
08:24But right now, based on what Shibi is telling us,
08:26all three camps, three camps why?
08:28Viti Satishan, KC Venu Gopal, as well as Ramesh Chenitala.
08:32All three camps, extremely confident,
08:35which means that the high command hasn't given any one of them an indication
08:38or an inkling as to which side they're going.
08:41Supporters of all three camps are gathering.
08:43And what this does, Shibi, is it actually has the opposite effect.
08:47It builds up pressure.
08:48If, let's say, one leader, whichever leader is chosen ultimately,
08:52the other two, it's going to lead to further factualism,
08:55a further divide, a further breakdown, really, in the party affairs of KPCC.
09:03Oh, well, absolutely, actually.
09:05In fact, that's something I've been telling everybody asking me who will be the chief minister.
09:08One thing I'm sure, whoever has chosen, it's going to be a very, very tough time for that person
09:12because the other two leaders and their factions are going to make it very difficult for them.
09:17We have five years before us for the Congress.
09:20It will be very difficult for them to run this government and also the party affairs
09:24when there's such strong factualism existing within the group.
09:27Because before the elections, all of them came out and said that we're working as team UDF.
09:31Team UDF lasted only till 6 p.m. on April 9th.
09:35Once the polling was done, everybody was on street raising their demands.
09:38We saw in the last one month or so, even once the polling was done,
09:43we saw all of them taking up their cases very seriously, building a narrative for each of them.
09:48So that's the kind of interest they have in this.
09:52And they also realize it's after 10 years that they're getting power.
09:56The scenes might be different after five years.
09:57So this is one golden opportunity to grab that power and become the chief minister.
10:02So three of them not ready to move an inch back is what we know.
10:06Ramesh Chintala was a little more silent and was a little more, you know,
10:10he specifically mentioned only about the seniority and his experience.
10:14And what he believes is that VD Sadish and KC Venugopal has now built a very big rivalry.
10:19So in between that, maybe Ramesh Chintala could be placed to convince both the sides
10:22and to calm down both the sides.
10:24That's his expectation is what we are understanding.
10:25But otherwise, we saw a very open fight taking out between KC Venugopal and VD Sadish.
10:30You know, the problem when you delay a decision by 10 days is that each of these factions
10:33then believe in flexing their power, flexing their might, which we've seen in the last 10 days.
10:38That makes it all the more harder to digest the decision.
10:41And so whoever has named the leader, their first immediate challenge is to address the factualism
10:46and bring everyone together, which won't be easy.
10:49Because each side, like I said, have dug in their heels right now, a situation that should have been avoided.
10:55Ideally, the Congress High Command should have nipped this in the bud, said this is the leader we are going
10:59with
11:00and then not let this drag on for 10 days.
11:02But we are in this situation now, 10 days on, we still don't know.
11:05Hopefully, in all likelihood, in the next one hour, we should have an answer.
11:10Shibimol and Rahul Gautam, thanks for those details.
11:12We'll stand by for the big, big announcement on who will be the Chief Minister of Kerala.
11:40Let's get you the highlights of the vote of confidence, the floor test that took place in the Tamil Nadu
11:45Assembly.
11:45This was considered to be the first big test that Vijay faces.
11:51And he's hit it out of the park.
11:53144 MLAs who have backed him.
11:55Vijay is now no longer vulnerable.
11:57If there were questions about a coalition, government and numbers not on his side, that's changed.
12:01Because from 120, he shot right up to 144.
12:05So let me break down for you the six big takeaways of the floor test that we saw this morning.
12:10Number one, that Vijay emerges much stronger.
12:12Where anyone who underestimated him, who spoke of his inexperience as a politician and therefore coalition government getting those numbers
12:20in the Assembly would be challenging?
12:22Not at all.
12:23Vijay has proven all his detractors wrong in that sense by ensuring that he cleverly played the numbers game.
12:29Getting in the smaller parties onto his side.
12:31And then also ensuring that the rebels come over of the AIA-DMK.
12:36And that's worked in his favor.
12:38Second, 144 MLAs backing TVK now.
12:42That's a big number.
12:43What was expected to be 119, 120 has shot right up to 144.
12:49That's a result of so many of these AIA-DMK rebels switching over who Vijay had met just the previous
12:55day.
12:56Smaller allies, Congress cannot arm twist Vijay.
12:59Remember that in the run-up to all of these numbers coming together for Vijay, there was a lot of
13:04talk that the smaller parties with two seats, with one seat, with four seats are calling the shots, are telling
13:10Vijay what to do.
13:11But what's very clear, based on the numbers that Vijay has in the mandate, is that he knows exactly what
13:16he's doing and there's no question of him being arm twisted.
13:19Of course, takeaway number four, many would say this was the highlight, that this wasn't really a litmus test for
13:24Vijay, but that this was a litmus test for the AIA-DMK, for EPS.
13:29And it's established on record now that there's a vertical split right down the middle in the AIA-DMK.
13:3625 AIA-DMK rebels are with Vijay.
13:39Let me highlight that of the 47, 25 are with Vijay.
13:42And so EPS is left with a smaller number there of 22.
13:46For a merger, for not attracting the anti-defection law, the AIA-DMK rebels need 32.
13:50They don't have that, but ultimately the bigger number is still with them at 25 versus EPS at 22.
13:56So this actually, if you look at the flow test, for Vijay, smooth, smooth sailing.
14:01No problem whatsoever.
14:02In fact, he's aced it at this point.
14:05He's hit it out of the park and ensured that he passed this test with flying colours.
14:09For EPS, however, there's a whole lot of bad news.
14:29It was nothing short of a blockbuster, with Talapati Vijay as its superstar.
14:40After days of ups and downs, Chandrasekharan, Joseph Vijay, won the trust vote with flying colours.
15:00And cemented his position as chief minister with a clear majority.
15:17The assembly session began with Vijay proposing the trust motion, with allies extending their support to the Vijay government one
15:25by one.
15:29While Vijay, like a seasoned politician, sat patiently.
15:33One ally after another pledged their support for him.
15:39Then came the AIA-DMK split and boost to Vijay in the number game, as reported by India Today.
15:47The AIA-DMK rebel group led by S.P. Velumani announced support to the Vijay government, ignoring the whip issued
15:55by the party.
15:57Aram innovated, corruptly, claims that the Kepalani.
16:14Jinnikahat,ani, and the.
16:15Mizayat,ani, and the.
16:16Edapaadi Kepalani Saami, who is facing off with rebels in his party, claimed that ministerial berths have been offered to
16:21break his party.
16:58Allegations of horse trading also echoed in the assembly, with the leader of the opposition, Udayanithi Stalin, too, levelling serious
17:05charges and the chief minister hitting back.
18:02In the end, Vijay registered an emphatic win and promised an inclusive government.
18:41With 144 MLAs in his kitty, including 25 AIA-DMK rebels, Vijay now stands much stronger since falling short of
18:51majority.
18:52With Pramod Madhav and Anagar Keshav in Chennai, Bureau Report, India Today.
19:22Just EPS saying, go ahead and extend support to TVK or we'll break away and EPS relents and does exactly
19:28that to ensure that they remain in one side and that he is the undisputed leader.
19:32Scenario number two.
19:33Remember that Edipati Parniswamy is still the general secretary of the party.
19:37If the AIA-DMK rebels get more numbers, so on their side, right now they're at 25 or 47, let's
19:43say that goes up.
19:44They will go ahead and ensure that EPS is replaced as general secretary if they believe he's being too rigid
19:50and not allowing that support to the TVK.
19:53Okay. Scenario number three. And this is of course a question of merger. Will they be able to merge with
19:58the TVK without attracting the anti-defection law?
20:00Only if the number of rebel MLAs goes up to 32 or 47, two-third. Two-third if they get,
20:07they don't attract the anti-defection law.
20:08So if that happens, then merger complete. They're at 25. They need seven more on their side.
20:13But scenario number four also is a possibility. EPS is someone who's fought out many challenges, political challenges like this
20:21one too.
20:22This has happened repeatedly within the AIA-DMK. So there is very much a possibility that EPS fights it off,
20:28prevails, quells all rebellion, has it his way.
20:31You never really know with a vetro politician like EPS.
20:36Let's cut across now to breaking news that's coming in on this AIA-DMK internal fight.
20:45And India Today's news break has again been confirmed. Rebel AIA-DMK MLA CV Shanmugam has confirmed that yes, the
20:55DMK AIA-DMK talks were very much underway, which we told you first on India Today.
20:59We also had told you, and I remember reporting this from Chennai, that the DMK AIA-DMK were reportedly pushing
21:07for Tol Thurma Wallaman as chief minister, for a Dalit chief minister.
21:11And that too has been confirmed by the AIA-DMK rebel camp in the press conference, where they say that
21:16there was talk of plump portfolios, but ultimately that the CM would be from the VCK, that it would be
21:22Tol Thurma Wallaman.
21:24So that is the confirmation there for you of another India Today news break being confirmed.
21:29There was a proposal according to the AIA-DMK by DMK for Thurma Wallaman to be the chief minister.
21:38Let me bring in Pramod Madhav for more details on this.
21:41Pramod, good evening.
21:42First of all, every news break that you got us, bang on, spot on, confirmed days later by political leaders
21:47themselves.
21:48But this is sensational, because not just you have a confirmation from the horse's mouth that yes, DMK and AIA
21:54-DMK were in talks,
21:55but they were also planning to prop up Tol Thurma Wallaman as the chief minister to be a Dalit CM
22:00essentially for Tamil Nadu.
22:02But then the question that will be asked is, why did the VCK shift over then to providing support to
22:08the TVK if they were going to back such a great deal?
22:14It's very, very certain that our news breaks have been proved.
22:18And I should thank CV Shandugam for that, because he's the one who's constantly apparently going ahead and giving us
22:23some actual details.
22:24The only kind of fear I had was because like as these communications and as these talks were happening, we
22:30were breaking that along.
22:30So it was quite shocking for the parties that were involved as well.
22:33And I did get quite a lot of calls on that.
22:36So I personally have to thank CV Shandugam for this.
22:38But however, the important aspect that had that happened, Tamil Nadu would have made history, scripted history,
22:44as it would have got its first Dalit Chief Minister, Akshita.
22:46But it looked like quite a lot of other plays were also underway.
22:49Now CV Shandugam claims that EPS was not interested.
22:52He said that EPS wants to be the chief minister or the opposition leader and nothing else.
22:57And he was not happy with the form of going ahead and VCK being the government here.
23:01However, DMK was the one that proposed it.
23:03These are the words of CV Shandugam, no longer us.
23:06And it has been confirmed by CV Shandugam for Akshita.
23:09But the important aspect is that like I have to tell you, quite a lot of other issues were there.
23:13In fact, for almost 24 hours, Tirumavallavan, nobody could reach him.
23:17So last time he spoke to us, he very clearly said that certain questions that we put forward,
23:22he was not ready to answer.
23:23And it looks like these are the reasons behind it, Akshita.
23:26Alright, thanks very much Pramodh for joining us with those details.
23:29And congratulations on getting every news break right.
23:32Let's cut across now to CV Shandugam.
23:34What exactly he had to say about this DMK, EI, DMK Alliance talks.
23:38A few unutabbous vip around the world does not know.
23:43What information?
23:45What do you know?
23:46What do you know?
23:46You know, you can see it.
23:48You can see it.
23:48You can see it.
23:50You can see it.
23:51You can see it.
23:51You can see it.
23:52Everything there is a vip.
23:53In theastoise, you know, hold on your own.
23:58You can see it.
24:01You know, you can see it.
24:01You have a vip so far as you can understand.
24:08Pacific tries to get those decisions like anything.
24:14So, to keep the executive members, I think that they are not the first woman.
24:20Our team is the third woman.
24:26Our team is the third woman.
24:28Our team is the third woman.
24:28Our team is the third woman.
24:35So we have to do the first thing.
24:38I'm going to get a wipe.
24:39So we can say,
24:40we have to do the same wipe.
24:42We have to do the same wipe.
24:45We can say it's hard to do it.
24:48Okay.
24:50How can we do it?
24:52How can we do it?
24:56It's hard to do it.
24:58I'm going to get a wipe.
25:00Let's do it.
25:02It's the same word.
25:06Let me open this up. Joining us on this broadcast, we've got Nandakumar, political analyst, Mr. Ace Savranand, spokesperson of
25:13the DMK and R. Kannan, author and commentator.
25:16Let's bring in all of our panelists on this broadcast. Mr. Nandakumar, I'd like to begin with you.
25:22You know, what we've seen, and this is something you mentioned in the morning as well, that we've kind of
25:26underestimated what Vijay can do, what he can pull off.
25:30We're seeing that right now in the numbers also that are coming in. 144 for Vijay for TVK.
25:37He's through, sir, with a clear number on his side. With majority, that's far more than 120 as we expected.
25:45Yes, of course. Even if this faction of DMK doesn't support also, he will be winning today's vote of confidence.
25:55Because if you see, in spite of DMK making a lot of comments and criticism against Vijay, they have not
26:02voted against Vijay.
26:04They have just abstained from voting. So, almost 59 MLS have got abstained and another four from PMK and one
26:12from Bharatiya Janata has stayed neutral.
26:15So, almost 64 people have stayed. So, just with 86 MLS on the side of Vijay, he might be winning
26:23this vote of confidence.
26:24So, my question to DMK is that having criticising TVK for a long time and also in the Assembly today
26:32and putting a lot of allegations on Vijay, why did they abstain from voting?
26:37Because ADMK's faction of Federal Party Pallani Chami with 22, they have gone against TVK and voted.
26:43But why didn't DMK did that? So, that's my question to DMK even.
26:49Mr. Saravanan, do you want to answer that first? Why did the DMK choose to walk out instead of voting,
26:55sir?
26:56Against the TVK, if you believed that as Udenedi Stalin said, you know, people are regretting the TVK has not
27:03been delivered in the first few days.
27:04I think the earlier spokesman was not listening to what our leader, the leader of opposition, Mr. Udenedi Stalin, was
27:14saying.
27:14He said, we did not want a constitutional crisis.
27:19Another election, the state of Tamil Nadu cannot have it now.
27:23And we don't want the president's rule to be imposed.
27:26This is our statement, public statement, and this is what we have, I was assured by our leader, Mr. M
27:33.K. Stalin.
27:34And that is the reason why our allies were supporting.
27:38Mr. M.K. Stalin persuaded our allies to support Mr. Vijay so that the government will not fall.
27:45So, we registered our protest and walked out to ensure that there is no constitutional crisis.
27:53This is the issue.
27:54The other thing is, Mr. Vijay, the chief minister, was clueless when we made allegations of, after allegations,
28:02that this government, which is said they will make some changes, they will bring in change, was no different.
28:08It was, in fact, worse.
28:09Because in the state of Tamil Nadu, these horse trading allegations had never, ever come.
28:13But for the first time ever, allegations of horse trading had surfaced.
28:17And lending a credence to these horse trading allegations, a section of the BJP has split.
28:25Sorry, the ADMK has split.
28:27And they are saying they are supporting TVK.
28:29Just a moment.
28:30Just a moment.
28:31Just a second, sir.
28:32Just a second.
28:33Just a second.
28:34I am not finished yet.
28:34Do you have curtis, please.
28:35I am speaking.
28:36I am not finished yet.
28:39I am not finished yet.
28:41I am not finished yet.
28:41I am not finished yet.
28:41I am sorry.
28:42I think one second.
28:43Just a second.
28:43We are having a bit of an issue.
28:44That is, someone else is on our screen.
28:48Can we get rid of that, please?
28:49Mr. Sarun, and go ahead.
28:50Yeah, yeah, yeah.
28:51So, this is…
28:52The apology.
28:52Yeah.
28:53See, the other problem is, Mr. Vijay, instead of answering to all these allegations inside
28:59the house, has come out after four hours as an afterthought, has put out a detailed
29:04tweet countering all the allegations.
29:07So, we want to tell, we want to remind our Chief Minister, sir, this is the house.
29:13This is the assembly where you want to make a point.
29:17It has to be done immediately.
29:19It cannot be done post facto.
29:21It cannot be done in Twitter.
29:23People will lose credibility.
29:25So, at least the next time, when allegations are made against you, please counter them
29:29on the floor of the house, on the floor of the assembly.
29:33Post facto, anybody can say anything.
29:35Mr. Nandakumar, no.
29:36So, okay, fine.
29:36Horse trading is something, of course, that's been raised.
29:39Mr. Nandakumar, that's a serious allegation here against the TVK.
29:42Whether it's the AMMK, MLA, who is now, of course, no longer with the AMMK, or these
29:4825 AIADMK rebels.
29:50Ultimately, how has TVK gotten these numbers, sir?
29:53Through leaders who are in part of the TVK or not of parties who have officially extended
29:58support to the TVK?
30:00So, I would like to remind once again, Akshita, that the communists have came forward to support
30:05TVK only because of DMK.
30:08Because DMK wanted to support ADMK forming the government from outside and they insisted
30:12communist parties to do so.
30:15That is why they have moved on to TVK, not on their own.
30:18And again, if they are talking about horse trading, on the day one, Mr. TTV, Dhinagaran
30:23was coming on the screen and complaining about his MLA has been abducted, he was not contactable
30:29and he has been put on horse trading, all these allegations.
30:33After some few hours, both of them have appeared in front of the press and in front of having
30:39TTV nearby his own MLA, then his comrades has answered, TVK has not contacted him, TVK has
30:46not spoken to him.
30:48So, his own MLA has answered, TVK.
30:51There is a video that TVK only has released.
30:52No, no, no.
30:53No, no.
30:53I think this gentleman does say...
30:55This was a clear-cut answer.
30:56Can I come in?
30:57This was a clear-cut answer.
30:59And one minute, sir.
31:00One minute.
31:00One minute.
31:01Okay, Mr. Radishwarafrish.
31:02One minute.
31:02I have not completed yet.
31:04And even during 2019 MP election, there was an affidavit filed by DMK that they have given
31:1115 crore rupee to CPI, 10 crore to CPM and another 10 crore to another party, KMDK.
31:18And even a communist leader by name, Muttarasan, has come on to the media and said that at
31:23least we have got those amounts through account.
31:25But all the alliance parties with DMK has got money through unaccount.
31:29Till date, no alliance parties by then.
31:32In 2019, whoever were allied with DMK, no one has refused it.
31:36So, it might be a practice of DMK to do the horse trading before and after election.
31:41Till date, no party has refused that.
31:43Okay, Mr. Sarvan, and your response before I bring in Mr. Kannan, please.
31:46Yeah, yeah.
31:47See, I think this gentleman is not aware of the term horse trading.
31:51He doesn't understand what horse trading means.
31:54That is exactly what has happened.
31:56Here, whom did he win against?
31:58Mr. Kamraj, whom did he win against?
31:59He won against the TVK candidate.
32:02So, what was the vote for in his constituency against TVK?
32:06Now, what is he doing?
32:07He is going and supporting TVK and the letter of support.
32:11Even prior to Mr. TTV Dinagaran raising his allegations, the TVK people gave a letter.
32:20And they also gave, let out a video of Mr. Kamraj signing this letter of support.
32:27So, if this is in horse trading, and what else?
32:29And Mr. Yadapadi Pandalichami has clearly made what lurings were given.
32:35What lure?
32:36What was the lure for the breakaway faction of the DMK?
32:39No, but that the AIDMK rebels have denied, sir.
32:41You are taking one side, you should take the other side also.
32:44If EPS is alleging something, the AIDMK rebels have also disputed that.
32:49Mr. Kamraj, would you like to come in on this horse trading allegation against the TVK?
32:54And does this kind of smear their reputation?
32:58I think this development, I mean, is very unusual.
33:03We see the DMK spokesperson batting for the original AIDMK led by EPS.
33:11This whole situation of a fractured mandate has led to so many stories.
33:18And I'm sure that most of it is credible of a DMK propping up an AIDMK government, both trying to
33:27hoist a TVK government, et cetera.
33:35Horse trading has happened even before.
33:37In 87, when the AIDMK split, the Jayalalitha faction removed its MLAs from Tamil Nadu and kept them in a
33:47safe place.
33:47And it has happened, in fact, the first general elections in 1952 produced a fractured mandate.
33:53And Rajaji lured independents and others who won from the two Vanya parties to his ministry, both by blandishments and
34:07threats.
34:07He told them that he would recommend a fresh election if they wouldn't prop up his government.
34:16So, this is not new.
34:18This is not a new law in politics.
34:20It's something that we are, you know, witnessing.
34:23And, you know, you see things that haven't happened before happening.
34:28No, but that doesn't make it legal, sir.
34:29It's still something that should be frowned upon.
34:32I'm not justifying it at all.
34:33I'm not justifying it at all.
34:35And I'm not saying it is legal.
34:36And we don't know.
34:37Neither do you know nor do I know whether there was any, you know.
34:41But time will tell us.
34:43Let me raise one question here.
34:46Mr. Nandakumar, what Udenidi Stalin referred to?
34:49Saying, why is it that with every party that comes on board, there is a sofa that lands up at
34:54their house, at their office?
34:56And so, the suggestion, of course, is what happens in the movie Pushpa.
35:00And that's what's again led to questions about whether money is being exchanged here.
35:04You know, you've got Vijay clarifying and saying there's no horse trading.
35:08We're only a government that's, you know, racing ahead.
35:11But ultimately, these questions will be asked on what it took to get these parties on board, sir.
35:17And some of these leaders like the AMMK or these rebels, these AIDMK rebels.
35:22Yeah, for your kind information, Nakshita, on the day when he was about to meet Mr. Thul Thirumavallavan in his
35:31office,
35:32a sofa was delivered in Thul Thirumavallavan's office too.
35:36So, does Saravanan and Mr. Udenidi Stalin mean to say that they are pushing their alliance party to support TVK
35:43based on the sofa politics?
35:46So, even the sofa was sent to Mr. Thirumavallavan's office.
35:49What are they saying?
35:51So, whether the DMK is involved in horse trading by making their alliance parties to accept sofas?
35:58What is this?
35:59Come on.
35:59As Mr. Kannan said, everybody is speculating here.
36:02Nobody knows what it is happening.
36:04And coming on the TV and making a false allegation.
36:07That is what I have given you an example.
36:09How TTV Dhinagaran was exposed by his own MLE.
36:14And now, Mr. Saravanan has exposed his own leader, Mr. Udenidi Stalin.
36:19Based on this sofa, this was delivered to Mr. Thirumavallavan's office.
36:24So, let Saravanan answer this.
36:26What is so fun?
36:27Mr. Saravanan, do you want to answer this?
36:29Is the VCK, according to you, corrupt?
36:32No, no, no.
36:33See, the only question is this.
36:35Mr. Chief Minister did not visit the leader of the ADMK party, that is Mr. Edapati Pandani Chawami.
36:44He did not even wish him back when he wished inside the assembly.
36:47But he goes and meets the breakaway faction.
36:51What was the stand taken by the TVK party?
36:56That, oh, we will not do anything.
36:58We have got nothing to do with the ADMK because they are an India allies.
37:00This is also reiterated by the Congress.
37:02No, but they have said we are not tied to the NDA anymore.
37:05No, no, no.
37:05They have said we have no trust.
37:05Just a moment.
37:06Allow me.
37:06Allow me.
37:07Allow me to speak.
37:09Allow me to speak.
37:10Allow me to speak, actually.
37:11So, they said, oh, we will not touch the ADMK.
37:15They are, they will not, we will never go near them because they are tied up with NDA.
37:19And that is why, that is what our leader of opposition mentioned so far goes and Mr. Vijay goes.
37:27And the persons who said, who were deemed to be not palatable earlier have suddenly become palatable because first trading.
37:38And that is not only the case.
37:39No, so then I am confused.
37:45That's what, AIMMP.
37:50Are you going to tell your allies to pull out support?
37:54No, no.
37:55See, next to six months that question does not arise at all.
37:58That is what, if you look at what our chief minister has said.
38:01The next, once a confidence motion is passed, the next six months nobody can bring any confidence motion against this
38:07tournament.
38:09So, whether you like it or not, next six months nothing is going to happen.
38:13So, let's, let's first understand that.
38:16Then we can jump into any conclusions or whatever.
38:18Let's see.
38:19See, the thing is this.
38:20The only question is this.
38:22What will happen?
38:23Are they lured with minister posts and the other posts as alleged by Mr. Edapadi Pandalichami?
38:29That we'll have to wait and see what thing and look at where does the congress stand here?
38:34That is another problem.
38:35And whether they will be relevant at all in the course of things, that also we'll have to wait and
38:40watch.
38:41Okay.
38:42I'd like to thank Mr. Sarwana and Mr. Nandakumar for joining us.
38:45Mr. Kannan, I'll just request you to stay with me because I'd like your view also on the AIA-DMK
38:49crisis.
38:50And we've got a news break on that.
38:52As the AIA-DMK, MLA, CV Shanmugam, SP Velumani, Vijay Bhaskar, their camps have all been removed from party posts
38:59that they held.
39:00This is the big breaking news that's coming in right now, Mr. Kannan.
39:04How do you think this will play out now?
39:06Do you think that these rebels will be, essentially will survive these tests?
39:12Or do you think that EPS will come through, live another life, even facing despite all of these crises that
39:17he survived before?
39:19I think EPS is finished.
39:21I think this is the beginning of its political end.
39:26And much depends upon how the Speaker acts on the 25 rebels who have defied the AIA-DMK party web.
39:36And certainly the original AIA-DMK led by EPS would then approach the court.
39:41All this is going to take some time.
39:44So we will have to see.
39:45My feeling is a majority of the AIA-DMK legislators have sensed where the wind blows.
39:55And they've taken a very politically correct decision.
40:00Okay, so we'll see what plays out in the coming days.
40:03But what's very clear is that the AIA-DMK is facing a crisis that they've seen before.
40:09But now you've got a clear rebellion against EPS that's playing out.
40:13Thanks very much, Mr. Kannan, for joining us on this broadcast.
40:16We're going to continue tracking what really happens now that all of these leaders,
40:20these rebels have been removed from party posts.
40:23It was expected by EPS.
40:24But focusing on Chief Minister Vijay, you know, everyone's been talking,
40:29and I know there's a great deal of curiosity over Vijay,
40:32over how from blockbuster films he's delivered a blockbuster in politics.
40:36But through this entire journey, he's kept one thing constant.
40:39His bond with fans, now with his water base through the camera lens.
40:43This is Vijay's strong selfie game.
40:46Every single time he posts a selfie, it breaks the internet.
40:50And he times it in very important times.
40:54It is Talapati, the name is enough.
41:09From being a superstar to Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Vijay has come a long way.
41:15One thing in his spectacular journey has remained unchanged.
41:20The selfie culture.
41:25From the name-ready selfie during the master movie trailer event,
41:30which went viral, or his selfie at the oath-taking ceremony.
41:41It has always been lights, camera, action for Talapati.
41:49Since stepping into politics, he has consistently been seen engaging with fans
41:54through photographs and selfies at public events.
41:57Wherever Vijay goes, he is always ready to say cheese.
42:01With Simran Sairoa, Bureau Report, India Today.
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