Chennai: Although Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief MK Stalin had to live under his father's (M Karunanidhi) shadow for over four decades, Udhayanidhi Stalin, the actor-film producer son of DMK chief, didn't have to wait as long.
Marking his electoral debut from the Chepauk-Thiruvellikeni constituency, once held by his grandfather M. Karunanidhi, Udhayanidhi defeated Pattali Makkal Katchi's (PMK's) AVA Kassali by 48,387 votes in the State Assembly elections 2021.
Udayanishi's Political Rise
On March 12, when the DMK had released its full list of 173 contestants for the State assembly election, the younger Stalin figured among the debutants and was given the ticket from Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni seat, a DMK bastion in Chennai that the party has always won, except in 1991.
Unlike Stalin, Udhayanidhi’s evolution in the DMK has been swifter. While he began making his earliest political appearances in 2018, it was only in July 2019 that Stalin put him in charge of the party youth wing--making him the party's youth wing secretary.
With a casual demeanour, Udhayanidhi is the third-generation leader to rise in the first family of Tamil Nadu politics. His rise within the party was an open secret in the last two years. But even before that, he was the managing director of Murasoli, the party's mouthpiece.
After being made the head of the party's youth wing, a post held by his father MK Stalin for long, his influence in the party started to become visible. A common lament has been that even Stalin, who toiled through the ranks to become the party's president, never enjoyed such privileges during his younger days.
It may be noted here that Udhayanidhi's next steps will now be watched carefully, given the already mounting allegations of dynastic politics. As many as seventeen candidates in the Assembly election this time around were relatives of existing candidates.
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