‘Udhayanidhi in Stalin’s cabinet’ chorus grows louder

Over the weekend, two key projects for Chennai – public announcement system inside city buses and a permanent ramp for physically challenged and elders – got under way. And both were inaugurated by Udhayanidhi, DMK MLA and son of Chief Minister M K Stalin, who doesn’t hold any position in the Tamil Nadu government.

The importance accorded to Udhayanidhi, who was last week reappointed as DMK youth wing secretary, by senior ministers is not lost on anyone as the chorus to induct the 46-year-old legislator into Stalin’s cabinet only grows by the day. As Udhayanidhi turned 46 on November 27, cabinet ministers not just queued up to wish him but also made conscious efforts to win over the young scion by organising several welfare activities like blood donation, distributing gold coins for newborns, and helping the poor.

Udhayanidhi’s rise in DMK has been meteoric – months after campaigning for the party, he was appointed as secretary of youth wing in 2019 and allotted Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni assembly seat in 2021 which he won by a handsome margin.

On November 26, Udhayanidhi inaugurated the new system of announcing the next stops using GPS inside buses by waving a green flag as Transport minister S S Sivashankar and HR & CE minister P K Sekarbabu looked on. The next day, it was the turn of Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) mayor Priya Rajan to take the back seat at Marina Beach and allow Udhayanidhi to hog the limelight.

Health Minister Ma Subramanian says Udhayanidhi has all “qualities” to join the DMK government and extend his “valuable public service” to the whole of the state. While the demand to induct Udhayanidhi into the cabinet is as old as the DMK government under Stalin, there is a renewed push from the legislator himself and his supporters in the party.

The Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni MLA couldn’t join the cabinet, as planned, in July due to his film commitments – he is an actor, producer and distributor. Sources told DH that Udhayanidhi has now decided to reduce his presence in cinema and concentrate more on politics which makes it clear that it is not whether he will make it to the Cabinet but when he will as speculation on the impending cabinet expansion is rife.

“The preference given to Udhayanidhi is a calculated move by the first family. They want Udhay to join the cabinet and learn the ropes slowly. The campaign is being made to look like an organic one as minister after minister seeks his appointment to launch schemes in their departments,” a senior DMK leader told DH on the condition of anonymity.

Udhayanidhi’s induction into the cabinet is not just another ascension for him, but a clear indicator of Stalin’s succession plan. Prof. Ramu Manivannan, who taught politics and public administration at the University of Madras, told DH the campaign in favour of Udhayanidhi was “well-orchestrated” and there was nothing organic in it.

“This is pure sycophancy. The campaign in favour of Udhayanidhi is much beyond succession. He has clearly emerged as an extra-territorial power not just for politicians but also for those in cinema. Everyone wants to pamper him and be in his good books. Stalin had to work hard to get where he is today. But Udhayanidhi is getting everything on a platter,” Prof. Manivannan said.

DMK insiders point out that Udhayanidhi’s elevation should be done at the earliest to ensure that he does not have to wait like his father for decades together. Stalin’s elevation was resisted at every stage by his elder brother M K Alagiri, but Udhayanidhi is likely to be crowned without much trouble, thanks to his father’s absolute control over the party and the first family.

With Alagiri not even in the party, Kanimozhi is the only immediate family member with an influential post in the DMK and it is very unlikely she will oppose Udhayanidhi’s elevation, sources said.