On Wednesday, DMK scion Udhayanidhi Stalin was inducted into his father M.K. Stalin’s cabinet as its 35th minister. He will be in-charge of youth welfare and sports development in addition to the special programme implementation—one of the most prestigious departments previously held by the chief minister himself.
An MLA and head of one of the most influential film companies in Kollywood, Udhayanidhi's rise has been meteoric in the past four years ever since he took charge as the secretary of the DMK youth wing. The 45-year-old first stepped into politics in 2018 by participating in a protest event organised by a party senior—it was the first time Udhayanidhi participated in any such events.
In July 2019, Udhayanidhi was elevated as the party's youth wing secretary. He was re-elected to the post in November this year. In 2021, he was elected as an MLA from the Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni constituency. Considered as DMK’s fiefdom, Chepauk was earlier held by late DMK patriarch M. Karunanidhi.
During the 2021 assembly elections, Udhayanidhi was one of the star campaigners of the DMK. His campaign with a ‘single brick’, pointing out at how the BJP government at the Centre had failed to keep its promise of constructing an AIIMS Medical college in Madurai, is believed to have brought votes to the DMK. Considered the scion and the leader of the next generation in DMK, Udhayanidhi is popular among the youth. Under him, the DMK’s youth wing has built an infrastructure as strong as that of the mainstream party.
After becoming an MLA, Udhayanidhi's popularity rose further as he went around cleaning slums and visiting the flood prone areas. His videos and photos went viral, projecting him as one of the popular faces of the party on social media. He was also actively involved in Tamil cinema during this period and produced and distributed some of the super hit movies, besides acting in a few. He himself has agreed to have distributed more than half of the Tamil movies produced in the past one year. His Red Giant Movies is a popular production company in Tamil Nadu.
While dynasty politics is not new in Tamil Nadu, rather in the whole of India, both father and son being in the same cabinet is probably rare. Earlier, between 2006 and 2011, Stalin was part of his father M. Karunanidhi’s cabinet. But Stalin had a rich political experience and was looked at as an able administrator when he first joined the cabinet. He had served as the mayor of Chennai and was also an MLA for three consecutive terms. He also accompanied his father and led the DMK youth wing as its secretary till his early 6os. At the age of 65, he took over the reigns of the party after Karunanidhi’s death.