Why MK Stalin wants to elevate Udhayanidhi now?
After fits and starts over the elevation of 46-year-old Udhayanidhi, who is currently the minister for sports and special program implementation, Stalin for the first time acknowledged that “there is a demand to make him deputy chief minister” but said that the “time is not yet ripe”, while speaking to reporters on August 5.
The ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) launched its campaign for the 2021 assembly elections in Trichy — considered to be the party’s lucky territory — where the loudest cheers were saved not for the to be chief minister MK Stalin but his son- Udhayanidhi. The actor-producer was only two years old in politics then but his silver screen popularity could hold a rapturous crowd that was predominantly young and male — his core support base.
If there were assumptions that Stalin would rule for life like his father and five-time chief minister M Karunanidhi, the event was an indicator of who would be his political heir. After fits and starts over the elevation of 46-year-old Udhayanidhi, who is currently the minister for sports and special program implementation, Stalin for the first time acknowledged that “there is a demand to make him deputy chief minister” but said that the “time is not yet ripe”, while speaking to reporters on August 5.
At every milestone of Udhayanidhi’s rapid rise from him being appointed as DMK’s youth wing secretary in 2019, contesting in 2021 to become a first time MLA and being inducted into the cabinet in 2022, Stalin has been more reluctant than enthusiastic. The primary reason was that they were the target of the opposition over Udhayanidhi inheriting a political dynasty and his crusade against sanatana dharma that catapulted the greenhorn to a controversial figure on the national stage.
But, there is no doubt that Stalin impassionately defends his son. Udhayanidhi is to become his number two but it is the timing of his elevation that has been in question. “The chief minister did not want to elevate him before the Lok Sabha elections because this would have been the easy target of the opposition and all other issues would have been buried. Now, the time is right because there are two years to go for the 2026 assembly elections,” said a senior DMK leader.
“Our people panicked over the sanatana dharma controversy. If he is promoted now, the immediate sharp criticism and backlash will die down before the next elections. And there is two years’ time to groom Udhayanidhi. The chief minister’s age-related health is also making him think that a family member can share his responsibilities. He can trust him,” the leader said.
While even Stalin had to jockey for power facing resistance from within the party and his family, Udhayanidhi for now has no rivals. Since this January, there has been a collective demand for Udhayanidhi’s elevation–whether that is organic or orchestrated is unclear. A carousel of ministers and DMK’s main ally Congress are calling for junior Stalin’s elevation to the non-constitutional post.
Ahead of the 20-day trip to the US on August 22 by Stalin to attract investments, minister for backward classes RS Rajakannapan who on August 9 told reporters that “after August 19, party cadres can call Udhayanidhi deputy chief minister.”
“His health is not at risk like it is being speculated but he will also be taking medical treatment in the US. During his absence the main role of a deputy chief minister would be to hold cabinet meetings and he can trust Udhayanidhi to do that job without causing new problems,” said a DMK parliamentarian on condition of anonymity.
Stalin held a cabinet meeting on Tuesday in which Udhayanidhi was absent as he was attending the Olympics in Paris. On August 16, Stalin would chair a meeting of district secretaries at the DMK party headquarters which is expected to clarify Udhayanidhi’s elevation. “All the district secretaries want him to be deputy chief minister. But the CM has never said “okay”,” said a DMK leader who is close to the father and son. “Until now even in informal discussions the CM always said that Udhayanidhi needs more experience, that he needs to pick up administrative skills and know how to deal with bureaucrats.”
Leaders like him want to be cautious as they believe that the chief minister has still not confirmed his decision. The health minister and one of Stalin’s closest aides, M Subramanian said that from top leaders to grassroot level functionaries, everyone believes that Udayanidhi is qualified for the elevation. “But, as far as I know, the chief minister has not yet made up his mind,” said Subramanian.
DMK’s party structure has strict lines on hierarchy, geography and gender. “When the party is in power there will be no revolt within the family,” a second DMK leader said. “And the family wanted Udhayanidhi to become a minister in his father’s cabinet. A plan for succession is best implemented when the ruling government.” For now the family has fallen in line with Stalin’s leadership and his half-sister and MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi respects the overall power sharing.
Stalin is the personal and political mediator here ensuring that there is no repeat of the sensational family feud with his estranged brother M K Alagiri to take over after his father. After their landslide victory in the Lok Sabha elections (winning all 39 parliamentary seats in TN) Stalin elevated Kanimozhi as DMK’s parliamentary party leader replacing old hand T R Baalu. He also promoted her as DMK’s deputy general secretary in 2022. By making Kanimozhi the number one for DMK in Delhi, Stalin cleared the way for Udhayanidhi in Tamil Nadu without having to face any opposition, says political analyst Maalan Narayanan. “Stalin has balanced it well to make his succession plan smooth.”
The flashpoint for this succession plan was the 2019 Lok Sabha elections when Udhayanidhi made his debut in the campaign trail. “His style of campaigning attracted a mass of youngsters,” a third DMK leader said. The consensus on Udhaynidhi’s strengths are that he attracts the young, he is rooted to Dravidian ideologies such as social justice, takes strong policy positions such as being anti-NEET and hates everything in saffron colour.
For the opposition, Udhayanidhi is a prince in waiting who isn’t qualified for the job. The AIADMK has described the sports minister as a playful boy. In his first stint, he hasn’t yet been given key portfolios. “We will know if he is good or not for the job only when he is in the position,” says Narayanan. “And if he has a good team of advisors and bureaucrats it is likely to be smooth.”
But, leaders who are senior to Stalin in the DMK are confident that a succession must be in place to avoid the pitfalls of what had happened with their arch rival AIADMK with the two parties alternatively having ruled the state since 1967. Unlike the hierarchical DMK, the autocratic functioning of the AIADMK under J Jayalalithaa led the party to splinter into multiple ways after her death. The AIADMK now under Edappadi Palaniswami has lost every election since then. And the BJP is attempting to gain strength through a weakened AIADMK and reaching out to their vote base.
“Stalin is cleverly playing this without making any direct announcements on Udhayanidhi and putting out feelers to test the pulse of his party, the people and the media,” says Narayanan. “He wants to be on good footing ahead of the 2026 elections.”
The decision will come in the backdrop of DMK’s internal problems of dissidence at the grassroot level with a rebellion against three of its Mayors. Amid fending off attacks over the law and order situation given give murders of political workers in just July, legal setbacks with its ministers facing trial over corruption, one of the worst hooch tragedies, the DMK which heads all the 21 corporations in Tamil Nadu does not want urban areas to affect its prospects. The 2026 polls would be a crowded affair in the land of the Dravidian colossus with another new, young, actor Vijay entering the political arena where the fight is between the DMK and AIADMK besides the BJP and the Naam Tamizhar Katchi.