CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Assembly is no stranger to grand declamations of praise.
Sometimes they may be well-deserved while at others they are useful indicators of where the power in a political party may lie.
For political observers and DMK members, the recent Budget session at Kalaivanar Arangam made it clear to all that Udhayanidhi Stalin, son of Chief Minister MK Stalin and grandson of late DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi, is his father’s chosen successor.
Not only was the scion strategically seated behind the CM, impossible to miss in every photo or video of his father, he was also singled out for praise by virtually every party MLA, barring DMK general secretary Durai Murugan.
Several members spent almost half their allotted 10-minutes showering the first-time MLA with praise. Many even walked over to him to receive his ‘blessings’ after speaking.
The surfeit of praise came despite Stalin’s clear direction to party MLAs not to waste time on such speeches.
Yet, the members were taking their cue from the publicity given to these flowery statements in party mouth piece ‘Murasoli’, of which Udhayanidhi is managing director.
The titles MLAs gave to Udhayanidhi in the session include Sengal Nayagar (referring to his display of brick during poll campaigns to criticise the lack of progress on the AIIMS hospital in Madurai) and Ilam Gnayiru (young sun).
“Murasoli is read by all party workers. So, when they see the speeches praising Udhayanidhi being carried regularly, they think they will be recognised only if they praise him,” a former DMK MLA told TNIE.
However, a veteran party functionary pointed out no such praises were bestowed on Stalin in Assembly when he was starting out.
Stalin started his political career in his middle-school days, worked his way up to secretary of the youth wing in 1982 and was first elected to Assembly in 1989.
Yet, the veteran functionary recalled he started receiving some praise only after the 1996 election, when youth wing functionaries like Suresh Rajan became ministers.
According to DMK insiders, open praise of Stalin only became common in Assembly after he became deputy CM in 2009.
In contrast, Udhayanidhi, a still-active film producer and actor, only joined the party in 2019 and was made secretary of the youth wing later that year in ‘honour’ of his campaign for the DMK alliance during the 2019 Parliamentary election.
Two short years later, he was a star campaigner for the recent Assembly polls and was fielded – and won – from his grandfather’s old Assembly seat of Chepauk-Thiruvellikeni.
Insiders said he works hard in his constituency, visits regularly, and is responsive to voters.
An MLA from a party allied to the DMK justified his remarks on Udhayanidhi.
“He campaigned for me. So, I expressed my gratitude. The actions of every DMK MLA indicated it is expected of us. So I followed suit,” he said.
A senior DMK functionary too defended Udhayanidhi’s rising influence.
“Both the CM and Udhayanidhi stay in the same house. Due to the CM’s tight schedule, they (MLAs) meet Udhayanidhi and he takes up important issues with the CM,” he argued.
Privilege
Veteran journalist T Koodalarasan said it’s all an “open secret”.
“Usually, ministers inaugurate MLA offices. Now Udhayanidhi inaugurates the office of a minister. No one else enjoys such privilege.”