Tamil Nadu CM Stalin slams 'one nation, one election' pitch
Chennai (PTI): The BJP government's push for "one nation, one election" is a blatant attempt to undermine the nation's federal structure, DMK President and Chief Minister M K Stalin has alleged.
It is a move towards centralised power that goes against the essence of India, a union of states, he said on Sunday. "This abrupt announcement and the subsequent high-level committee formation only fuel suspicions. #OneNationOneElection is a recipe for #dictatorship, not #democracy," Stalin said on X.
Addressing a gathering at a marriage, the DMK chief said a panel formed for this purpose has been carried out in an autocratic manner to achieve what the BJP regime already intended and "for a conspiracy (towards a despotic regime)". The DMK, the third largest party in Parliament, does not have a representation in the committee, he said.
He slammed the main opposition AIADMK for supporting the proposal, though it opposed such a move while in power. Eventually, the AIADMK would become a scapegoat, he said, hinting that the proposal, if fructified, would boomerang on the AIADMK.
"If implemented, not only the DMK, no other political party will be able to function. It will become a one-man show," he said in an apparent remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Stalin wondered if the DMK government in Tamil Nadu and other state governments would be dismissed to facilitate state elections as well alongside the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The DMK assumed power in May 2021 and it has only completed two-and-a-half years of its tenure, he pointed out.
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Sensex, Nifty join global selloff as Trump tariffs trigger trade war fears
Mumbai, Apr 4 (PTI): Equity benchmarks Sensex on Friday slumped over 900 points to crash below the 76,000 level due to an across-the-board sell-off, tracking weak global markets amid growing global trade war fears.
Besides, a sharp correction in crude prices and a heavy sell-off in market heavyweights Reliance Industries, Larsen & Toubro and Infosys added to the gloom, analysts said.
The 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 930.67 points or 1.22 per cent to settle at 75,364.69. During the day, it plummeted 1,054.81 points or 1.38 per cent to hit an intraday low of 75,240.55.
The broader NSE Nifty declined 345.65 points or 1.49 per cent to close at 22,904.45. In the session, the 50-share benchmark gauge 382.2 points or 1.64 per cent to 22,867.90.
Tata Steel was the biggest loser in the Sensex pack, sliding 8.59 per cent, followed by Tata Motors, Larsen & Toubro, Adani Ports, IndusInd Bank, Tech Mahindra, Reliance Industries, Sun Pharmaceutical, HCL Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, and NTPC, were the major laggards.
On the other hand, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank, Nestle India, ICICI Bank, ITC, Asian Paints and Axis Bank were among the gainers.
In broader markets, the BSE midcap gauge plunged 3.08 per cent, while smallcap index declined 3.43 per cent.
"Markets slumped in sync with the crash in global equities with sectors crashing over 2-6 per cent on broad-based selling," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.
Investors fear Trump's reciprocal tariff policy will fuel recession and drive inflation in the US going ahead and engulf other key economies. A sharp fall in metal and oil stocks is indicating that demand could be hit amid slowdown fears, Tapse added.
In Asian markets, Tokyo and Seoul ended lower. Hong Kong and Shanghai stock markets remained closed for the holidays.
European markets were trading lower in the mid-session deals. US markets closed lower in overnight deals on Thursday, witnessing their biggest drop since 2020.
Global oil benchmark Brent Crude slipped 3.26 per cent to USD 67.85 a barrel.
"Crude oil prices plunged after the US President announced heavy reciprocal trade tariffs, triggering fears of slower global demand. A sharp tariff hike on China spooked energy markets, leading to crude oil's biggest single-day fall in three years," Rahul Kalantri, VP Commodities, Mehta Equities Ltd, said.
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 2,806 crore on Thursday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) purchased shares worth Rs 221.47 crore on a net basis.
On Thursday, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined by 322.08 points to close at 76,295.36, and the broader NSE Nifty fell 82.25 points to settle at 23,250.10.
