Udhayanidhi Stalin Could Be Elevated As Deputy Chief Minister, Say Sources

Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK is thinking of elevating Udhayanidhi Stalin -- son of Chief Minister MK Stalin - as the Deputy Chief Minister. He would be the second-in-command in the government, senior party sources have said.

The elevation would be a key step in strengthening the second-rung leadership in party, sources said. News agency IANS reported that Stalin Junior will be elevated before the Chief Minister travels to the US on August 22.

IANS also reported that Udhayanidhi Stalin will be the face of the DMK in the 2026 Assembly elections as his father is unlikely to contest.

DMK Organising Secretary R S Bharathi, however, made it clear that party president and CM Stalin will take the final call on the matter.

"Chief Minister M K Stalin has to decide on the elevation of Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin as Deputy CM. This will definitely be announced when it happens," Mr Bharathi said.

Udhayanidhi Stalin has played a key role in the recent Lok Sabha election campaign that was swept by the DMK in the state.

Mr Stalin had earlier denied that his son was being considered for elevation. "Rumours were being spread with an intention to create a sensation, that deputy CM post (for Udhayanidhi) was going to be given," he had said in January this year.

Udhayanidhi Stalin was made the Youth Welfare and Sports Development Minister in his father's Cabinet in December 2022 after his crucial role in the 2021 Assembly election, which ended the decade of AIADMK rule in the state.

The President of the DMK's Youth Wing, he won from the Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni Assembly constituency.

Mr Stalin was also anointed as the Deputy Chief Minister in 2009 when his father M Karunanidhi was the Chief Minister, catapulting him into top rung of Tamil Nadu politics. There is speculation that the son might follow in his father's footsteps.

(With agencies)