In Tamil Nadu, the rise of MK Stalin’s son—Udhaynidhi Stalin

In November, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) high-command sent out a dozen leaders, including DMK president MK Stalin’s son Udhaynidhi Stalin, to campaign for 100 days across Tamil Nadu against the ruling All India Anna Dravida Kazhagam (AIADMK) government.

Udhayanidhi, also the DMK’s youth wing secretary, began his campaign on November 20 from Thirukkuvalai village — the birthplace of his grandfather and DMK’s late patriarch, M Karunanidhi. After visiting his grandfather’s ancestral home, he addressed a public meeting from a dais set up nearby. “From the welcome you have all given me, I can tell with conviction that it is our leader (Stalin) who is going to sit on the chief minister’s chair in 2021,” he said to a rapturous crowd that was predominantly young and male — the core support base of the actor-turned-politician.

In his speech, Udhaynidhi attacked the ruling AIADMK of being enslaved by the BJP and for being corrupt, and assured that the DMK would abolish the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), which has led to student suicides. Minutes after his speech, he was packed into a police van for violating Covid-19 norms and released a few hours later and he continued to campaign — a pattern that was often repeated through the 100 days by which time Udhyanidhi emerged as one of the star campaigners for the party.

Political rise

Last week, Udhaynidhi was given the ticket to make his electoral debut from Chennai’s Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni — a constituency from where Karunanidhi was elected thrice (1991, 2001, 2006) and has remains a DMK bastion even though Karunanidhi shifted to his home ground in Tiruvarur. “Udhaynidhi wants to enter the assembly as an MLA at a time when there are high chances for his father to become the chief minister,” said a senior DMK leader, who did not wish to be named.

With a casual demeanor, dressed mostly in trousers and an untucked shirt and boyish looks — though he’s a father of two — Udhayanidhi is the third-generation leader to rise in the first family of Tamil Nadu politics.

Three other DMK leaders, who did not wish to be named, said that there was a consensus in the party that Udhaynidhi’s strengths were attracting the young, remaining rooted to Dravidian ideologies such as social justice, and consistently taking strong policy positions such as being anti-NEET. “He’s got the spontaneity of his grandfather in his speeches and responses, if not his wit,” said a DMK functionary. “He’s able to connect more easily with youngsters with his colloquial way of speaking. After he became secretary, three million members have joined the youth wing.” He is also known for his sharp rhetoric. Udhaynidhi, on the campaign trail, got into a controversy for speaking obscenely of how chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami got his position by falling at expelled AIADMK leader VK Sasikala’s feet.

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As the elder son of DMK president MK Stalin, Udhaynidhi, 43, was born into a family that dominated Tamil cinema and politics, paving the way for him to straddle the two worlds that seamlessly merge in the state. He entered Tamil cinema as a producer and distributor of Red Giant Movies for actor Vijay’s Kuruvi in 2008. Later, he debuted as the lead actor in Oru Kal Oru Kannadi in 2012. His roles in these movies, which would fall under the romantic-comedy genre, garnered support from the lower middle class in smaller towns. “He is not a big actor but cinema gave him the necessary popularity. From the time he was formally inducted into the party, he’s worked really hard,” said a second senior DMK leader, who has been with the party since the early 1970s.

The 2019 Lok Sabha elections offered Udhaynidhi space to enter the political arena by campaigning for the coalition across the state. During this time, he was also the managing director of the family-owned Murasoli Trust, which publishes the party mouthpiece Murasoli launched by Karunanidhi. The DMK swept the polls, winning 38 out of 39 parliamentary seats in May 2019. This cemented Udhaynidhi’s elevation in the party, which was rather swift unlike that of his father.

Udhaynidhi was made youth wing secretary in July 2019 — a post his father held for more than three decades. Stalin was 13 when he began organising youth wing functions. He formed the DMK youth wing 1980 when he was 27, became secretary in 1983 and held the position until 2017. He worked his way up to become party treasurer, Chennai mayor, deputy chief minister and leader of the opposition — all the while in his father’s shadows. He became party president after Karunanidhi’s death in August 2018.

“Stalin was tested for a very long time,” said the second DMK leader quoted above. “That was Kalaignar’s way of functioning because he had come up the hard way. Except for Anna (DMK founder C N Annadurai), Karunanidhi, VR Nedunchezhiyan (former acting chief minister), K Anbazhagan and the rest of the team were in their 20s and 30 when the party started. They prepared themselves for the cause. They were well read. Every leader in the DMK movement had a library inside their house. Though Karunanidhi was educated only until class 10, his scripts successfully took the Dravidian message to the masses.”

The legacy of cinema and politics

The state has elected five chief ministers linked to Tamil cinema including three actors. Karunanidhi, a five-time chief minister, pioneered in fusing silver screen and politics. He was a celebrated scriptwriter and Tamil movies were employed as a propaganda vehicle to espouse Dravidian ideology through dialogues, songs and story lines. It was a time when those in films were also affiliated to politics as members and leaders.

The most successful of this venture was Karunanidhi’s partnership with MG Ramachandran (MGR), the matinée idol who built a subaltern image to propagate the DMK’s ideology in more than 40 films. MGR was suspended from the DMK in 1972 when Karunanidhi was the chief minister. MGR formed the breakaway faction the Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (ADMK), later renamed as AIADMK. MGR first became chief minister in 1977 and continued to occupy the chair until his death in 1987. Except for MGR’s protégé and successor J Jayalalithaa, several actors who made the switch haven’t been able to translate their silver screen success into votes.

Actor Vijayakanth who played roles as saviour in Tamil films from the early 1980s and was referred to as “karuppu MGR” (dark-complexioned MGR) by his supporters launched the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) in 2005. He became the Opposition leader in 2011 with an 8% share but his success was short lived. With Vijayakanth inactive due to his ailing health, his wife, son and brother-in-law are in the forefront but the party’s vote share has fallen to 2.1%. DMDK walked out of the AIADMK-BJP alliance last week and has joined hands with Sasikala’s nephew TTV Dhinakaran’s AMMK.

Actor Rajinikanth, who has been hinting to his cult-followers since 1996 of his possible political entry, finally made an announcement in December 2020 that he would float a party to contest the election only to backtrack two weeks later. Meanwhile his contemporary, Kamal Haasan, is making his political debut as chief ministerial candidate contesting from Coimbatore South against the BJP and Congress. His three-year-old party Makkal Needhi Maiam registered a 3.7% vote share in 2019.

Like their predecessors, the contemporary actor-politicians’ party base comes from their fan clubs turned into political foot soldiers. But what is different is that they haven’t been able to align their image in cinema with politics in a way that worked for Karunanidhi and MGR.

Udhaynidhi, for instance, hasn’t played roles with political messaging. “But his movies were entertaining to youngsters and that continued when he became youth wing secretary; youngsters consider him ‘mass’,” a DMK worker from Trichy, G Arumugam, said during the party’s recent conference in the district where the loudest cheer was reserved for Udhaynidhi from the youth wing cadre.

Family and politics

The conference came close on the heels of Udhaynidhi being interviewed for his candidature in Chepauk by a panel that included his father and other senior leaders as is procedure in the party to interview all ticket aspirants. His candidature was doubtful amid charges by the rival AIADMK-BJP combine that the DMK-Congress are indulging in dynastic politics.

Another reason was that if Udhaynidhi was allowed entry, other senior leaders who had sought seats for their sons would press on their demand. “Leader (Stalin) was hesitant but the high command felt that even if Udhaynidhi is allowed to contest after a decade, the same criticism of dynasty politics would be levelled against us,” said a third DMK leader on condition of anonymity. “If he isn’t given a ticket, the opposition would say we got scared that he will lose. The high command felt that it was the right time for him to enter.”

Udhaynidhi’s desire to enter the assembly this year and his mother Durga Stalin’s push is said to have finally sealed the deal. “The candidate list was kept very confidential while everyone was guessing if Udhaynidhi will be fielded or not,” said the third DMK leader. “Now that he’s there in the field, his mother wanted him to be active at a higher level.” Referring to the speculation, during a book-release function, Udhaynidhi narrated that the leadership didn’t expect him to show up for the interview. “It’s Kalaignar’s constituency...whoever contests will win from Chepauk; it’s a given,” he said.

When Karunanidhi was at the helm, he gave party positions to Stalin and his other two children -- MK Alagiri and their half-sister K Kanimozhi. His grand nephew, Dayanidhi Maran, is also a former union minister while his sibling Kalanidhi Maran is the founder of the Sun Group conglomerate that produces movies through Sun Pictures. Stalin’s rise as the political heir saw a power struggle with his now estranged elder brother Alagiri who was expelled from the party in 2014. Alagiri spoke about floating his own party in January and accused Stalin of betraying him but has gone back to keeping a low-profile. Alagiri was also eager to promote his son Dayanidhi who owns Cloud Nine Movies.

Party leaders say that others in the family, such as Lok Sabha parliamentarian Kanimozhi, an affable leader, and Stalin’s son-in-law Sabareesh who is known to keep a low profile and wield power behind the scenes are unlikely to challenge the rise of Udhaynidhi. “The family has always worked for the party, so there is no aversion,” said one of the DMK leaders, quoted above, admitting that there are sections who are disappointed with his appointment as youth wing secretary and being allowed to contest. “Any party will have internal factions and that does exist.”

Even though Udhaynidhi seems positioned as the successor and is being groomed as a leader, his future is yet to be carved out. “He’s proved himself with responsibilities given so far which is why he was given the ticket. If he gets elected, he has to prove his mettle in the legislative assembly; only then will he be accepted as a future leader,” said the DMK leader quoted above. “It all depends on how he performs and how his performance is accepted by the cadre.”