It is ‘sonrise’ season in the ruling Dravida Munntera Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu. Chief Minister M K Stalin’s son and a minister in his cabinet, Udhayanidhi Stalin is expected to be anointed as the Deputy Chief Minister, formalising his position as the number two in the government and the party.
The buzz about cabinet reshuffle and an expansion, ahead of Stalin’s foreign tour to the United States on August 22, has acquired added significance with this long expected coronation of the DMK’s crown prince. Also on the anvil, DMK sources said, is the return of PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan as the Finance Minister replacing incumbent Thangam Thennarasu.
Only in January this year, Stalin had scotched rumours of his son’s elevation as Deputy CM. After addressing the DMK Youth Wing Conference in Salem, a massive show of Udhayanidhi, the Chief Minister maintained that it was not in the cards. But, this time around sources in the government and the party maintain that the time has come.
“There is pressure from the party on the Chief Minister to formalise Udhayanidhi’s position as the second in command by making him the Depuy CM. Senior leaders too have favoured this in view of the 2026 assembly elections. However, it is up to the Chief Minister to take a decision,” reasoned DMK spokesperson TKS Elangovan.
The party’s Gen-Next face, Udhayanidhi (47) is currently holding the portfolios of Youth Welfare, Sports Development and Special Programmes Implementation. He is also Secretary of the party’s Youth Wing.
From being a Kollywood star, running a successful film production company, Red Giants, he took the plunge into electoral politics in the 2021 assembly poll and was elected from the Chepauk-Tiruvallikeni constituency in Chennai. His elevation as a minister came on December 22. Now, the question is whether Stalin could postpone his son’s eventual coronation. For, his father and the late DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi, had inducted him in the cabinet only when Stalin was in his late 50s, and then as Deputy CM in 2009.
Moreover, the patriarch had not let him take the mantle of the party till his death in 2018.
Debunking the charge of dynastic succession, DMK leaders explain that the impending elevation was intended to reduce the burden on the Chief Minister and share the responsibilities. And there is unanimity in the party that this should not be delayed since the next assembly election is just a year and half away.
Apart from Stalin, it is Udhayanidhi who remains the star campaigner of the party. There is none to challenge his position. But, actor Vijay who had launched his political party, Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) preparing to enter the fray in 2026 and the Tamil Nationalist ‘Naam Tamilar Katchi’ of Seeman gaining significant electoral strength, the DMK requires to enhance the stature of Udhayanidhi to steer the party in the future.
DMK observers and analysts who say that this is on expected lines are however skeptical of any immediate elevation given Stalin too had to wait for his time for long.
“The party is in the firm grip of the DMK’s first family. And, it is the family that calls the shots. None in the party would oppose this elevation, but neither would there be undue pressure. Most of the party veterans have ensured that their wards are either MPs or MLAs. But, it is for Stalin to decide. Conceding this might give room for rumours about the CM’s health,” explains R Thirunavukkarasu, teaching sociology at the University of Hyderabad, a keen observer of the Dravidian movement.
“We should not forget how Stalin had to wait despite his father being five-time Chief Minister,” he quipped.