Udhayanidhi Stalin elevation as MK Stalin's deputy on cards? DMK leader drops hint

Udhayanidhi Stalin elevation: The buzz comes weeks after the DMK and its allies won all the Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu.

A DMK leader has called for the elevation of Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin's son, Udhayanidhi Stalin, to the position of the deputy chief minister of the state.

Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin(PTI file photo)

DMK Organising Secretary R S Bharathi said the party's workers and leaders want Udhayanidhi's elevation. He, however, made it clear that the party president and CM, MK Stalin, would take the final call on the matter. He said if Udhayanidhi is elevated, it would turn out to be a huge advantage for the party in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.

The remark comes amid speculation that Udhayanidhi Stalin will be elevated to a crucial position in the government ahead of the chief minister's proposed visit to the United States next week.

Udhayanidhi Stalin is the state's sports minister. He was included in MK Stalin's Cabinet in 2022, a year after he won the polls from the Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni Assembly constituency.

Asked about reports of Stalin's elevation, Bharati said," Chief minister MK Stalin has to decide on the elevation of minister Udhayanidhi Stalin as the deputy chief minister. This will be announced when it happens".

"This is our aspiration too. But it is ultimately the CM who as the party president should decide,” he added.

The buzz comes weeks after the DMK and its allies won all the Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu.

Udhayanidhi, the grandson of DMK stalwart (late) M Karunanidhi, had last year courted controversy with his remark comparing 'Sanatana Dharma' to diseases like 'malaria' and 'dengue'.

"A few things cannot be opposed, that should be abolished only. We can't oppose dengue, mosquitoes, malaria, or corona. We have to eradicate this, that's how we have to eradicate Sanatana. Rather opposing Sanatana it should be eradicated," Udhayanidhi had said.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court pulled up the leader, saying he was a minister, not a layman.

"You are not a layman. You are a minister. You should know the consequences," the Supreme Court told Stalin's lawyer, who moved the apex court seeking clubbing of multiple FIRs registered against him in several states over his remarks.

With inputs from PTI, ANI