Meet Udhayanidhi Stalin, who eyes DMK's son rise in Chepauk in Tamil Nadu Assembly polls

Contesting from a DMK stronghold, will Udhayanidhi carry the DMK patriarch's legacy forward?

Tamil actor, producer and now politician Udhayanidhi Stalin is set to make his electoral debut in the 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. Son of DMK president M K Stalin and grandson of late DMK founder M Karunanidhi, 43-year-old Udhayanidhi is popular for producing and acting in several movies such as Kuruvi, Aadhavan, Manmadhan Anbu and Oru Kal Oru Kannadi (OKOK). He won awards for best debut in the 2012 movie Oru Kal Oru Kannadi. After seeing his fair share of successes in the film industry, he is set to make his foray into politics.

Udhayanidhi's grandfather and late DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi represented Chepauk, it was renamed as Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni in 2011 after delimitation, thrice from 1996 to 2011 before he moved to Tiruvarur, his native constituency in the fertile Cauvery Delta region. Udhayanidhi is now set to test the electoral waters from DMK-stronghold Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni.

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Udhayanidhi earlier was the managing director of the party’s mouthpiece Murasoli and on July 4, 2019, he took over from his father as the secretary of DMK’s Youth Wing.

The 2019 Lok Sabha elections were a platform where he could set himself up for a political career and he made full use of it. He campaigned for the Congress-DMK coalition across the state and the DMK won 38 out of 39 Lok Sabha seats in May 2019. This success helped him cement his position in the party and he rose up the ranks fairly quickly much like his father.

Udhayanidhi’s candidature this election was doubtful for some time amid accusations from rival parties including the BJP and the AIADMK that the DMK-Congress alliance was indulging in dynastic politics. "First Stalin and now Udhayanidhi... two years ago Stalin said none from his family will enter politics. But he has forgotten all that, he is misleading people. Stalin and those belonging to Karunanidhi's family are doing dynasty politics today," CM Palaniswami lashed out.

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According to his nomination filing, Udhayanidhi has moveable assets worth over Rs 21 crore, while his wife Krithika has moveable assets worth Rs 1.15, crore. His children meanwhile are listed to have assets worth Rs 24.95 lakh. Udhayanidhi has listed Rs 6.54 crore under immovable assets and there are no immovable assets declared for his wife and children. In total, his family owns assets worth Rs 29.07 crore.

Tamil Nadu is not new to cinema stars entering and making it big in politics, from AIADMK founder M G Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa to M Karunanidhi and Vijayakanth, the state has had five chief ministers linked to the industry including three actors. Actors Khushbu, Stalin and Kamal Haasan are also contesting this time. Rajinikanth who has been giving his fans signals of joining politics finally made an announcement in December 2020 that he would start a party to contest the polls, but decided otherwise two weeks later.

Tamil Nadu is set to go to polls on April 6 in a single phase, with campaigning by major political players is already in full swing in the state.