For the fourth time in a span of two months, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin on Tuesday made it clear that there would be a cabinet expansion and was positive about the coronation of his son and Sports Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin as the Deputy Chief Minister.
“There will be change, no disappointment,” was his response to questions from the media on the reshuffle of his ministry and the appointment of Udhayanidhi as the Deputy Chief Minister. After an inspection of the developmental works in his constituency, Kolathur, in north Chennai, the CM was asked about his earlier comments about cabinet expansion made before commencing his US tour and also on arrival from abroad.
Within the ruling DMK, there is a clamour for making Udhayanidhi as the second- in- command in the party and the government. Some of the ministers have gone public about an impending coronation. At the party’s 75th foundation day celebration in Chennai on September 17, former Union Minister and party veteran SS Palanimanickam had appealed to Stalin not to delay the elevation of Udhayanidhi. Even Stalin, who initially resisted the idea and who said that the time is not ripe for that, is favourably disposed to it.
As the DMK’s Youth Wing secretary, Udhayanidhi is being projected as the party’s GenNext face of the first family. Besides holding the portfolios of Sports and Youth Welfare, he is entrusted with Special programmes Implementation, which gives him wider powers and control over other ministries.
The opposition AIADMK and the BJP have criticised the move terming it as dynastic politics and questioned his qualification and suitability for the office. “Is no one qualified for the post in the DMK. Several seniors who have toiled for the party are being overlooked. What makes Udhayanidhi qualify to become the Deputy CM?” asked former AIADMK minister D Jayakumar.
BJP leader and former Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan said the Chief Minister’s remark will be a ‘disappointment’ to the people and the seniors in the DMK. Earlier, she had quipped that if a senior like Water Resources Minister is made the Deputy CM, considering his stature, she would be happy.