In Tamil Nadu, Congress holds plough rally to compete with BJP's Vel Yatra; leaders booked

Several Tamil Nadu Congress and BJP leaders were booked by the state's police force on Sunday for organizing the Plough Rally and Vetrivel Yatra respectively in Coimbatore. AICC Tamil Nadu in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao along with TNCC president KS Alagiri were among the 93 leaders booked for taking out the 'plough rally' in protest against the farm laws at Karumathampatti. Offences have been registered under Sections 143 (punishment for unlawful assembly), 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life), 271 (disobedience to quarantine rule) and 341 (for punishment for wrongful restraint) of the IPC against the Congress leaders. 

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Meanwhile, the police also booked TN BJP President L Murugan along with the saffron party's state unit vice-president for organizing the Vetrivel Yatra in Coimbatore on Sunday. As per reports, over 6000 BJP workers and leaders had gathered at Sivananda Colony to participate in the yatra. It is pertinent to point out that that the L Murugan-led TN BJP has attempted to embark on the 'Vetrivel Yatra' on numerous occasions despite being denied permission by the police, the state government and after also being pulled up by the Madras HC. 

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AIADMK-BJP alliance to continue: OPS

In a massive boost to the saffron party ahead of the Tamil Nadu 2021 polls, AIADMK coordinator and Deputy CM O Panneerselvam, on Saturday, announced that the AIADMK will continue its alliance with BJP. He stated this in the presence of Tamil Nadu CM E Palaniswami and Home Minister Amit Shah at Chennai's Kalaivanar Arangam. Upon arriving in Chennai, the Union Home Minister laid the foundation stone for phase-2 of the Chennai Metro Rail Project. Shah also paid his tribute to former Tamil Nadu chief ministers MG Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa. In his first public address on his two-day tour of Tamil Nadu, Amit Shah detailed on the developments brought in by the BJP ever since being elected to power in the Central Government. 

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Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections 2021

The two warring factions in AIADMK - of Deputy CM O Pannerselvam (OPS) and CM E Palaniswamy (EPS), reconciled after the party named incumbent E Palaniswamy as its CM candidate and O Panneerselvam as the chief of the 11-member steering committee. With AIADMK announcing a coalition with BJP, the saffron party is reportedly in talks with MK Stalin's estranged brother - Alagiri and superstar Rajinikanth - who has often praised PM Modi. Meanwhile, ex-CM Karunanidhi's successor - DMK chief MK Stalin eyes his maiden CM term as DMK cannot afford to lose a third straight Assembly election after sweeping the state in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls with 38 seats. Polls will be held in April-May 2021.

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