He has not spoken about Dravidian ideology, Periyar or social justice. He has not written long letters to his followers through Murasoli, the mouthpiece of the DMK, like his grandfather, former chief minister M. Karunanidhi, used to do. He also did not rise through the DMK’s ranks like his father, party president M.K. Stalin. Yet, Udhayanidhi Stalin has become the party’s poster boy.
Udhayanidhi, a film producer-actor-politician, loves the DMK, and, evidently, the spotlight. “Vote for the DMK,” he says, flashing his signature smile from a campaign vehicle in north Tamil Nadu. He explains why: “If you vote for the DMK, your MLA will go to the assembly. If you vote for the AIADMK, your MLA will either join the BJP or go to Koovathur (location of the resort where AIADMK MLAs elected Chief Minister E.K. Palaniswami).” The crowd around the vehicle relishes this dig at political rivals. Udhayanidhi goes on to attack the incumbent cabinet with creative monikers and the crowd goes berserk.
Though his speeches lack the rhetoric flourishes common in old-school Dravidian politics, Udhayanidhi has found a different path to popular support—every meeting he participates in is interactive. This helps him connect emotionally with people. He also ensures that he is articulate and relatable.
He was initially not accepted by senior leaders and even faced criticism within his family; his mother Durga, though, has been a staunch supporter. Stalin, too, did not want to hold his son back. Despite the early challenges, Udhayanidhi, 43, seems to have consolidated the party’s rank and file behind him in the past two years. He told THE WEEK that he does not mind people criticising him as a dynast. “My blood is DMK blood,” he says. “I am a born DMKian. I don’t have to prove this. I want to work for the welfare of the people. The DMK will ensure the defeat of the AIADMK and the BJP.”
He entered the film industry with his production company, Red Giant Movies, in his early 30s, when the DMK was in power (2006-2011). He then forayed into acting and was slowly placed in the party—his images started cropping up in publicity material close to the 2011 assembly elections. But, the DMK was reduced to 23 MLAs in the 234-member assembly by former chief minister J. Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK. The campaign focused on painting the DMK as a party of dynasts.
During that period, Udhayanidhi’s political visibility dropped, temporarily. Four years later, he was made managing director of Murasoli. He used the new role to improve his image among party men. In 2019, he became the party’s youth wing secretary. The youth wing’s average age was 45. And, though it had 10 lakh members, there were only 4,500 functionaries. He wanted the youth wing to replicate the full structure of the parent body, across the state. There was opposition from senior leadership, even from Stalin. But, he went ahead with his plans.
“His first job was to build the youth wing,” says Hasan Mohammed Jinnah, deputy secretary, DMK youth wing. “So he divided the party’s youth wing into seven zones, based on the regions in Tamil Nadu. For each zone, he appointed a deputy secretary and began a membership drive.”
Udhayanidhi travelled across the state. His target was to enrol 30 lakh members. Twenty five lakh people signed up and a verification drive found 22 lakh members to be genuine; members aged between 18 to 25 had joined for the first time in two decades. With 22 lakh members on its rolls, the youth wing pushed for functionaries in every district and panchayat. The DMK youth wing had managed to give a platform to youngsters who were drifting towards other, newer parties.
Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, MLA and Udhayanidhi’s close friend, says: “He understood that an old party entrenched in ideologies needed youngsters to drive it forward. And this was the right time to do it.” The youth wing now seems to be celebrating Udhayanidhi more than Stalin. On March 7, for example, during a DMK state conference, senior leaders had to stop their speeches midway as the crowd was asking for Udhayanidhi.
Udhayanidhi’s critics in the party say that he has been calling the shots since he was made youth wing secretary. The DMK’s former deputy general secretary V.P. Duraisamy, who walked out of the party to join the BJP, said at a news conference that he had to plead with Udhayanidhi for a Rajya Sabha ticket even though he was many years his senior. MLA Ku Ka Selvam from Thousand Lights constituency, a DMK bastion in Chennai, defected to the BJP alleging that Udhayanidhi sabotaged his chances of becoming secretary of the DMK’s Chennai West district unit and installed his confidant Chitrarasu in the post.
Selvam had said that the party was in Udhayanidhi’s control, but, the latter dismissed the accusation and said the BJP “gave him a chocolate and took him away”. Udhayanidhi has made it clear that he can withstand criticism and opposition from within the party, like his grandfather.
During the candidate selection for the assembly elections, he impressed the panel, which included his father. It is learnt that a witty reply had the panel bursting into laughter, even as Stalin tried to conceal his smile.
The DMK seems to have outsmarted the opposition by fielding him from Chepauk-Triplicane. Actor-politician Khushboo Sundar, who defected from the Congress to the BJP, was eyeing the constituency. DMK leaders had said that Udhayanidhi would not get a ticket as that would lead to criticism that the party was supporting dynastic politics. The opposition alliance allotted the constituency to NDA ally Pattali Makkal Katchi and whatever threat a celebrity candidate like Khushboo could have posed in the DMK bastion was over. Within days, Udhayanidhi was announced as the candidate there. Now, “Udhayna”, as he is known to members of the youth wing, looks set to win ‘unopposed’.