Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin is believed to be toying with the idea of elevating his son and Sports Minister Udhayanidhi as his deputy in the government along with a minor reshuffle of portfolios among his Cabinet colleagues.
The impending elevation of Udhayanidhi, who currently holds Youth Affairs and Sports Development and Special Programme Implementation portfolios, is likely to be a smooth affair as not even a whimper of protest was heard when he was inducted into the Cabinet within 19 months of his making a debut in the Tamil Nadu assembly as a legislator.
While Udhayanidhi as deputy chief minister appears almost certain, DMK leaders said they are not sure when the promotion will actually take place. Speculation on this issue intensified after the government finalised Stalin’s tour to the United States, which is likely to begin on August 22.
“There is no doubt that Udhayanidhi will be made deputy to his father, but the only question is when it will take place. The elevation could happen either before the CM’s US visit or after he returns home from the high-profile visit. There is already a clamour for him to be given additional responsibilities,” a senior DMK leader told DH.
Sources said Udhayanidhi is likely to retain Sports and SPI portfolios as they allow him to travel across the state to meet youth and monitor flagship schemes of the DMK government.
The elevation might be part of a minor reshuffle in the portfolios and induction of at least one new minister to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of V Senthil Balaji, who is in jail since June 2023 in a cash-for-job scam during his tenure as Transport Minister between 2011-2015 in the AIADMK government.
Udhayanidhi’s rise in the DMK has been meteoric even for a member of the first family and is in complete contrast with his father Stalin, who climbed the party ladder gradually over the decades.
The leadership had in fact put the elevation proposal on hold in January this year as it thought such a decision could impact the party’s prospects in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. “We have about two years before we face the elections in 2026. Many in the party believe this is the right time for Udhay to step into his father’s shoes and take more responsibilities in the party and in the government,” another leader said.
He is virtually the No. 2 in the DMK government as he steps in to inaugurate programs and launch schemes of various departments whenever his father is not able to do so due to his health. He is also the most sought after minister to inaugurate schemes in their departments.
Udhayanidhi’s rise in the DMK has been meteoric even for a member of the first family and is in complete contrast with his father Stalin, who climbed the party ladder gradually over the decades. Udhay’s first political outing was in 2018, a year after his grandfather M Karunanidhi was confined to his home, and the next year he was appointed as secretary of the youth wing.
In 2021, Udhayanidhi contested the assembly elections from Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni, a constituency in Chennai represented by his grandfather, and won by a massive margin. And in 2022, he was a minister in his father’s 1.5 years old government.
In contrast, Stalin, who was groomed by Karunanidhi to succeed him, had to wait for at least 15 years to join his father’s cabinet. Stalin was inducted as a minister only in 2006, in his fourth term as a legislator and patiently waited for Karunanidhi to hand over the reins to him.