Venkatesh Kannaiah
Venkatesh Kannaiah is indianexpress.com’s consulting editor for South India
Articles By Venkatesh Kannaiah
Why Tamil Nadu’s cutout culture will be hard to cut away from
In this age of information overload, it is apt to recall that the 23-year-old died when a truck ran over her on a busy Chennai road after she fell off her scooter as a cutout fell on her.
Yeddyurappa: The man who never takes it easy
Not the one to miss any opportunity, Yeddyurappa sensed a possibility of returning to power amid contradictions that was building up within the Congress-Janata Dal(Secular) alliance after its loss in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections.
He might have come full circle, but Vaiko is not done yet
Vaiko is a demagogue and an expert at rousing the masses. A tireless politician and propagandist, people easily forget that he is around 75 years of age.
BJP sweeps Karnataka; puts Kumaraswamy govt in trouble
It has won with huge margins across the state, with Union Minister Ananthkumar Hegde winning with a margin of more than four lakh votes.
Bangalore’s love for BJP is reflected in Tejaswi Surya’s lead
In Bangalore South, Tejaswi Surya, the 28-year old lawyer who was selected as the party candidate for the constituency despite opposition from various party quarters, was leading with a majority of more than 3.2 lakh votes.
Jagan sweeps Andhra Pradesh; leaves Naidu clueless
As results are flowing in, YSR Congress is leading in 24 of the 25 parliament seats and in the assembly Jagan is leading in 150 of the 175 seats.
DMK sweeps Tamil Nadu, stops BJP in its tracks
The DMK led alliance which included the Congress, CPI, CPI (M), Viduthalai Chiruthaikal (VCK) and a host of smaller parties have swept the state, and is of now leading in 36 of the 39 seats. In many of the seats they have crossed leads of more than one lakh votes.
Cong-JD (S) coalition govt shaky as BJP sweeps Karnataka
Senior Congress leaders who are trailing badly or on the verge of losing are Mallikarjun Kharge, Veerappa Moily and Muniyappa. The veteran of many a battle, former prime minister Deve Gowda was trailing and this could shake up the Congress- JD (s) coalition no end.
No, the ‘overpaid’ IT worker might not be the cause of Bangalore’s low voter turnout
In the 2018 Assembly elections, Congress led the polls in the city with 14 seats and the BJP scored 11. So the voter is also aware and has been changing his preferences quite often.
How and why cash polls the votes in Tamil Nadu elections
In Tamil Nadu, there is no palpable public anger at the amounts being seized. It has come to such a pass that voters are getting angry if money is not distributed.
Why Tamil Nadu no longer seems a walkover for DMK-Congress combine
Tamil Nadu elections have become cash-centric over the years, and whichever party has a well-oiled capability to deliver the resources on the ground, has an edge.
In Andhra Pradesh, was it a grievance vote or gratitude vote? Wait for May 23
The grievance vote is the anti-incumbency vote where the voter wants to throw out the incumbent government and the gratitude vote where the voter wants to show his gratitude for some benefit that he has received. Which vote was it in Andhra Pradesh?
Andhra Pradesh elections: Campaigning gets personal and vicious
Facing the combined might of YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy, K Chandrasekhar Rao and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said at a rally he could be arrested anytime.
Lok Sabha Elections 2019: In Naidu versus Jagan, it is organisation vs chemistry
Naidu is relentless in his ability to build alliances while Jagan prefers to go it alone.
Telangana polls: Opposition fighting for breathing space
The 2018 assembly election has changed the electoral landscape of Telangana. There was a KCR wave and there are no signs that it is receding. The challenge for the opposition is to regain some face, and show that it still can put up a spirited fight.
Elections 2019: How will Bengaluru vote?
In 2014, all the three city constituencies; Bangalore South, Bangalore Central and Bangalore North went the BJP way with margins of more than one lakh votes.
In Andhra politics, pastor K A Paul has generated enough confusion to gain some ground
K A Paul is now in the news for reviving the Praja Shanthi Party (PSP) and threatening to contest from all 175 Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh. Started in 2008, the party had not seen much action till now.
2019 Lok Sabha elections: Tamil Nadu, without the ‘Balakot bump’
2019 Lok Sabha elections: Tamil Nadu is all set for the polls with both the major parties in the state, the DMK and AIADMK, stitching a grand coalition of allies and friends.
Andhra Pradesh: Key constituencies and players to watch out for Lok Sabha polls
As the major political parties like the TDP and the YSRCP having announced their candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, we look at some of the key parliamentary constituencies in the state.
Tamil Nadu elections: Small parties have big problems
Most of these smaller parties gain their sustenance from particular castes and some have become so localised and personalised that it is led by one person, and what it means is that if the leader gets the ticket, the party jumps into the alliance.