Why Stalin wants son to stay out of poll race

Doubts remain that DMK president M K Stalin’s son Udhayanidhi, the party’s youth wing secretary who has applied for the party ticket for the Chepauk seat, may at the last minute not contest the April 6 assembly elections, according to multiple sources close to developments in the main opposition party.

Some in the DMK worry that the AIADMK campaign against dynastic politics could gain ground if Udhayanidhi contests, while others say he has earned the right. At the ‘nerkanal’ (interview session) with his father at the DMK headquarters in Chennai on Saturday, a process to screen prospective candidates, Stalin is said to have pointed out to Udhayanidhi that he would also have to campaign for 234 constituencies.

“Thalaivar (Stalin) asked his son if he could manage to do that as well as take care of Chepauk,” said a DMK leader, privy to the meeting. Senior leaders present at the meeting, including DMK general secretary S Duraimurugan, party treasurer T R Baalu and principal secretary K N Nehru, besides A Raja and Subbulakshmi Jagadeesan, extended support for his candidature, assuring him that they would convince Stalin, said this leader.


Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami mocks the DMK as “a corporate firm where only family members can be made directors”. So, a section in DMK is keen to avoid “anything that may diminish, even if to a small extent, the goodwill gained by the party”.