The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has finally felt the time is ripe to elevate Chief Minister MK Stalin’s son and Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports Development Udhayanidhi Stalin as the Deputy Chief Minister of the state. Udhayanidhi is a first-time MLA from Chepauk. The announcement comes days after DMK celebrated its 75th year Diamond Jubilee celebrations in Chennai. 

Chief Minister Stalin on Saturday, September 28 announced a cabinet reshuffle, adding that the swearing-in ceremony of the ministers designate would be held on September 29 at Raj Bhavan in Chennai. 

It is to be noted that MK Stalin had on August 5 said that the demand for making Udhayanidhi the deputy CM was getting strong within the party but that the “time was not ripe”. 

Even though Stalin and Udhayanidhi had dismissed the possibilities as rumours on multiple occasions, TNM had reported in its Powertrip newsletter earlier this year that the DMK would most likely announce it after the Lok Sabha polls. It may be noted that the state currently does not have a deputy chief minister like other states such as Karnataka or Rajasthan. The last time such a position was temporarily created was for O Paneerselvam in 2017.

The rumours about Udhayanidhi becoming the Deputy CM began in 2023, after he was made the Sports Minister. However, Udhayanidhi had played down these speculations on several occasions, even commenting that “all ministers are deputies to the chief minister” at one point of time. 

Once an actor, Udhayanidhi grabbed eyeballs during the 2021 election campaign in which he was seen holding a brick in his hand in Madurai, to highlight the delay in constructing the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the district.

He then shot to national fame after his comments on Sanatana Dharma while participating in the Sanatana Eradication conference by the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers and Artists Association in Chennai. Udhayanidhi equated the ideology to diseases like malaria and dengue that need to be eradicated.

“Sanatanam is like malaria and dengue. It must be eradicated and not merely opposed,” he said, adding that Sanatana Dharma – considered the bedrock of the caste system – was against the idea of social justice.

The comments drew the ire of BJP leaders. Cases were registered against Udhayanidhi in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Karnataka in the Sanatana Dharma row.