JM Exclusive

By M.R. Narayan Swamy After days of uncertainty, movie heartthrob Vijay is finally set to be Tamil Nadu’s new chief minister after securing the support of three smaller parties, which helped him cross the magic number needed to form a government in the southern state. Losing no time, Vijay, 51, one of India’s highest-paid film stars, on Friday staked claim to form a government at his third meeting in as many days with Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, who until now refused to let him take

VAVUNIYA, Sri Lanka — The chairman of the Vavuniya South Tamil Pradeshiya Sabha spent more than 1.7 million rupees of public money in five months on a rented luxury pickup truck, even as residents in the area say the council repeatedly cites budget constraints to explain crumbling roads, broken drains, and unlit streets. The expenditure came to light after the Pradeshiya Sabha was compelled to release the information following a Right to Information request, prompting scrutiny from residents an

COLOMBO — Vietnam’s President and Communist Party General Secretary Tô Lâm is set to arrive in Sri Lanka today for a two-day state visit that officials in both countries describe as the most consequential diplomatic engagement between Hanoi and Colombo since formal ties were established more than five decades ago — a visit freighted with economic ambition, ideological affinity and the careful optimism of two nations seeking to build something more durable than goodwill. His motorcade from Banda

India and Sri Lanka are separated by a sliver of sea. The cost of leaving it uncrossed grows by the year. COLOMBO — On the morning of May 2, the Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka stood before an audience of businesspeople, policymakers, and diplomats at the Grand Ballroom of a Colombo hotel and said something that diplomats rarely say in public: that his host country was making a historic mistake, and that it needed to stop. Santosh Jha, India's top envoy in Colombo, did not use those word

By M.R. Narayan Swamy Fatigue with Dravidian outfits, being sick and tired of corruption, anger over poor law and order, disgust with family control of parties, and a “let-us-try-out Vijay” sentiment were the most common denominators that delivered a stunning election verdict in Tamil Nadu, sinking political giants and bringing plenty of unknowns into the corridors of power. Interviews with dozens of residents, mostly in Chennai, revealed the extent of silent outrage against an established sys

By M.R. Narayan Swamy Tamil movie superstar Vijay created history on Monday by leading his two-year-old TVK to be the single largest party in the Tamil Nadu Assembly in its very first election, winning seats tantalizingly close to a half-way mark and burying six decades of Dravidian rule in one of India’s economic powerhouses. As counting of the millions of votes cast in the April 23 balloting continued across the state, election officials said the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) was set to fin