Sasikala’s proxy, Palaniswami, may be sworn in as Tamil Nadu CM today

February 16, 2017

Chennai, Feb 16: After a long period of political uncertainty in Tamil Nadu, it now seems that Governor Vidyasagar Rao may swear in the new Chief Minister of the state on Thursday. Reports say that E Palanisamy, who was nominated by disproportionate assets-convict AIADMK General Secretary Sasikala Natarajan, will take oath as the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister on Thursday.

E-Palanisamy

Palanisamy met Governor Rao late on Wednesday evening and claimed the support of 124 AIADMK MLAs. This came after the Governor asked him to get the signatures of more than 118 MLAs from the AIADMK to form the government in the state. He has now been asked to verify the signatures.

Soon after Palanisamy, members from the O Panneerselvam camp also arrived to meet the Governor. Panneerselvam has been claiming that he has very little support right now as many of his supporters had been kept captive in the Golden Bay Resort by Sasikala.

Meanwhile, Sasikala Natarajan spent her first night in the Parappana Agrahara jail on Wednesday. Report say she slept on the floor in a cell with two other inmates. Sasikala has been given a normal cell and is getting no VIP treatment in the jail.

Sasikala surrendered before the Bengaluru court on Wednesday after the Supreme Court refused to give her any relief. The court ordered her to surrender and go to Bengaluru jail immediately.

“You know the meaning of the word immediately,” Supreme Court judge asked Sasikala’s team. “We do not intend to pass any order on this. We are not going to change anything in the judgement,” the Supreme Court said.

This came after Sasikala sought more time to surrender citing health reasons. Reports say that Sasikala’s lawyer had requested the Bengaluru court not to issue an arrest warrant against the leader while confirming that the AIADMK General Secretary will surrender by Wednesday evening.

Sasikala was convicted on Tuesday by the Supreme Court in the disproportionate assets case and was ordered to surrender immediately to serve a four year jail term. The order, however, resulted in the cancellation of her bid to be the next Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.

Before leaving for Bengaluru on Wednesday morning, Sasikala visited the memorials of late J Jayalalithaa and MGR. On Tuesday, Sasikala had expelled acting Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and four other ‘rebel’ MLAs from the AIADMK after appointing loyalist Edappadi Palanisamy as the new Legislature Party Leader of AIADMK.

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News Network
December 6,2025

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With IndiGo flight disruptions impacting thousands of passengers, the airline on Saturday said that it will offer full waiver on all cancellations/reschedule requests for travel bookings between December 5, 2025 and December 15, 2025.

Earlier in the day, the civil aviation ministry had directed the airline to complete the ticket refund process for the cancelled flights by Sunday evening, as well as ensure baggage separated from the travellers are delivered in the next two days.

In a post on X, titled 'No questions asked', IndiGo wrote, "In response to recent events, all refunds for your cancellations will be processed automatically to your original mode of payment."

"We are deeply sorry for the hardships caused," it further added.

Several passengers, however, complained of not getting full refund as promised by the airline.

Netizens have shared screenchots of getting charged for airline cancellation fee and convenience fee.

"Please tell me why u have did this airline cancellation charges when u say full amount will be refunded (sic)," a user wrote sharing a screenshot of the refund page.

"Well, but you have still debited the convenience charges," wrote another.

Passengers have also raised concerns about the "cancel" option being disabled on the IndiGo app. "First enable the 'Cancel' button on your App & offer full refund on tickets cancelled by customers between the said dates," wrote a user.

A day after the country's largest airline, IndiGo, cancelled more than 1,000 flights and caused disruptions for the fifth day on Saturday, the ministry said that any delay or non-compliance in refund processing will invite immediate regulatory action.

The refund process for all cancelled or disrupted flights must be completed by 8 pm on Sunday, the ministry said in a statement.

"Airlines have also been instructed not to levy any rescheduling charges for passengers whose travel plans were affected by cancellations," it said.

On Saturday, more than 400 flights were cancelled at various airports.

IndiGo has also been instructed to set up dedicated passenger support and refund facilitation cells.

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News Network
December 16,2025

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The deletion of over 58 lakh names from West Bengal’s draft electoral rolls following a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) has sparked widespread concern and is likely to deepen political tensions in the poll-bound state.

According to the Election Commission, the revision exercise has identified 24 lakh voters as deceased, 19 lakh as relocated, 12 lakh as missing, and 1.3 lakh as duplicate entries. The draft list, published after the completion of the first phase of SIR, aims to remove errors and duplication from the electoral rolls.

However, the scale of deletions has raised fears that a large number of eligible voters may have been wrongly excluded. The Election Commission has said that individuals whose names are missing can file objections and seek corrections. The final voter list is scheduled to be published in February next year, after which the Assembly election announcement is expected. Notably, the last Special Intensive Revision in Bengal was conducted in 2002.

The development has intensified the political row over the SIR process. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress have strongly opposed the exercise, accusing the Centre and the Election Commission of attempting to disenfranchise lakhs of voters ahead of the elections.

Addressing a rally in Krishnanagar earlier this month, Banerjee urged people to protest if their names were removed from the voter list, alleging intimidation during elections and warning of serious consequences if voting rights were taken away.

The BJP, meanwhile, has defended the revision and accused the Trinamool Congress of politicising the issue to protect what it claims is an illegal voter base. Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari alleged that the ruling party fears losing power due to the removal of deceased, fake, and illegal voters.

The controversy comes amid earlier allegations by the Trinamool Congress that excessive work pressure during the SIR led to the deaths by suicide of some Booth Level Officers (BLOs), for which the party blamed the Election Commission. With the draft list now out, another round of political confrontation appears imminent.

As objections begin to be filed, the focus will be on whether the correction mechanism is accessible, transparent, and timely—critical factors in ensuring that no eligible voter is denied their democratic right ahead of a crucial election.

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