The AIADMK is fighting hard to retain Dharapuram. TTV has been pressed into action to camp there. Their bastion is the traditional rural vote. TVK has made inroads into the youth and women vote. We doubt the opinion polls that portray the race as a fight between TVK and DMK. The AIADMK still holds ground. It's TVK vs AIADMK here. Vijay's roadshow could make all the difference.

Unleashing my latest AI song: 'Trump Pum Pum Pum'. It's my take on the man. Give it a listen. If you can.

Akira Kurosawa's advice to youngsters 📌

🚨 SHOAIB AKHTAR COOKED ON PAKISTAN TEAM AFTER DEFEAT INDIA IN ASIAN GAMES FINAL 🚨 Shoaib Akhtar 🗣️: "There’s no denying the fact that there is no longer any real rivalry between India and Pakistan. Even before the match, everyone expects India to win and Pakistan to lose and that’s exactly what happened. There’s nothing surprising about it. After every India-Pakistan match, we have to feel ashamed and embarrassed. It has become common for us now. There’s really nothing new to say about it."

Since the AIADMK is a BJP ally, we wish it well. But when voters abandon years of habitual voting because of the craze for Vijay, it is bound to hurt parties that lack a charismatic leader. The emergence of a strong TVK means that today’s multi-polar scenario will increasingly become bipolar. By 2029, we are going to see a two-front contest: Vijay Plus vs the rest. The space for a third front is going to shrink as the days roll by. We foresee a massive recalibration of strategy by both the DMK and AIADMK after the byelections. They will have to reinvent themselves to offer a credible challenge to TVK. We’ll write more about the impending samudra manthan in the opposition in the coming days.

Punctuation saves lives

The first three letters of Sweden and Denmark spell Sweden The remaining letters spell Denmark

What we like about TVK is its explicit exposition of what secularism means. Vijay defined it as, “Emmadhum sammadhamey, emmadhum nammadhamey.” That translates to: “I accept all religions. All religions are mine.” This is a refreshing change from the pseudo-rationalist line of the DMK, where Christianity is fine, Islam is fine, but when it comes to Hinduism, they’d prefer the atheistic approach. A government that celebrates all festivals is truly inclusive. This has been the biggest reset since Vijay took over. Every party respected two religions. But one religion was unfairly treated for decades. Glad Hinduism has started getting its due. There’s a long way to go. This is what the BJP has been striving for. The atheistic edifice is finally crumbling. Good times are coming.

The DMK and AIADMK have underestimated TVK. They perhaps thought they were dealing with political kathukuttis. TVK may be raw when it comes to governance, but they enjoy elections. The party has more political strategists than the Dravidian majors. And the cadres to execute their plans. They even have a growing middle layer that can function without the incentives of power or money. So far in the byelections, TVK has outwitted the two parties by using tactics straight out of the old DMK/AIADMK playbook. Dharapuram was supposed to be a safe bet for the AIADMK. Now the mood seems to have tilted in TVK’s favour. The AIADMK has never faced an enemy that refuses to even recognise it as a threat. The Two Leaves party is relying heavily on the caste vote. Vijay has this uncanny knack for breaking caste calculations with his charisma. Our view is that the byelections may head TVK’s way. Unless the AIADMK pulls a rabbit out of the hat.

The Communists are a drag on any government. They are back to playing stumbling block in Tamil Nadu. Every move of the TVK government is questioned. Every action is opposed. Sometimes they cite fishermen as the excuse. Some other day, it’s the farmers. The TVK government has been reduced to a U-turn government, largely due to the Communists. Just four MLAs seem to dictate terms to Joseph C. Vijay. Immediately after the bypolls, it’ll be interesting to see if Vijay puts them in their place. A complete realignment could be on the cards after the elections. We may see the PMK jumping ship and AIADMK rebels being given their due place. Tamil Nadu can look forward to development if the Communists are kept at arm’s length.

One of the most beautiful versions of Hotel California I have ever heard. It's magical.😱 The Eagles - Hotel California - | Moyun

With a bronze, silver, and gold, Vithya Ramaraj has been the breakout star of the Asian Games for India. Thanks for making a billion people smile.

India wins first athletics gold at Asian Games 2026 with a 3:29.69 in women's 4x400m relay 📷@rvmoorthyhindu

The DMK is itching to make a comeback. But as things stand, the rising sun is in no position to win any seat in the byelections. So what does the party do to make a splash? The only way is to have a secret pact with the AIADMK. 'I'll transfer some votes to you in Dharapuram. You return the favour in Madurantakam,' being the deal. Since it helps both the Dravidian parties, there's a good chance for this to happen. People like Aadhav are quite alert to such possibilities. That's why he keeps pitching EPS as the General Secretary of the DMK.

Did you notice one thing? The DMK has wheeled out Kanimozhi for the byelections. She's been a key campaigner for years. But two seats didn't need three key campaigners. If Udhayanidhi were as popular as they make him out to be, Kanimozhi wouldn't have been required in the first place. Anyway, it's good that the DMK has come to its senses. They have an ace in Kanimozhi. She's reasonably credible. A pleasant face. And she puts across her arguments in an acceptable way, without the mocking tone of Udhaya and MKS. Irrespective of a win or loss, the DMK needs to persist with Kanimozhi. She's one of the most prominent women politicians in Tamil Nadu. Not deploying her more extensively would be unwise.

What do you do when you have to watch a long video but don't have the time? You submit the link to ChatGPT and it gives you a summary, right? That technique didn't work today when I gave it a 30-minute Tamil video. ChatGPT asked me to share the transcript. I was zapped. I thought AI engines could understand a video in any language and decode the transcript. Turns out, they're not quite there yet. So I went to Claude. Everyone's hyping up Opus 5.5 as the next big shiny thing. Fed it the same problem. The response was almost identical. Opus demanded the transcript too. Where would I go for the transcript? The curious me then tried Grok. Elon's engine took a pause. And then, in a few seconds, it gave me a neat summary. In a world where everyone is rooting for Astra and Opus, there's the quiet Grok, which is probably even better. At least at some tasks.

Edappadi is a very restrained leader. But we are seeing a very different version on the campaign trail now. The gloves are off. The “I will attack you after 4.5 years of governance” spirit is gone. The man has realized that he’s in a do-or-die phase. He’s at his aggressive best in taking on TVK. The DMK is not even on his radar. He knows the AIADMK is the party with the most to lose in the byelections. And TVK has the most to gain. Hence his no-holds-barred performance. He is attacking Vijay for being a 9-to-5 CM who takes weekends off. He is slamming the CM for reducing the Assembly to theatre. He’s unsparing in his criticism of the tendency to poach AIADMK MLAs and leaders. He sometimes takes a below-the-belt swipe just to get Vijay’s attention. He wants to turn a DMK vs TVK battle into an AIADMK vs TVK encounter. His wish may come true in Dharapuram. Not sure about Madurantakam.

Thinking young and connecting with the young through social media is an art. Vijay’s fans have mastered it over the years. The AIADMK is yet to figure out how to speak Gen Z. One party that has really raised the bar over the last 45 days is BJP Tamil Nadu. Their reels are fun, tarty and full of zing. Across the board, though, people are asking: if the reels are so good, how come the real performance is missing? That too will happen. Never underestimate the largest political party in the world.

TVK has three vulnerabilities. One, its talent pool is too rookie-ish to govern Tamil Nadu. Two, many of its candidates are imports from the AIADMK. Hence the need to constantly praise MGR and Amma, rather than their OG vazhikaatis. The AIADMK crossovers are also realising that none of their leaders are being treated with much respect. Even Sengottaiyan is not among TVK’s Big Five leaders. Three, every new political party will face its share of adjustment issues. But TVK folks have taken longer than usual to fix even solvable problems. And the litany of issues will only grow as time progresses. There’s a good opportunity here for the opposition if they recognise this triple weakness.