Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and ruling DMK President M.K.Stalin’s son Udhayanidhi Stalin is all set to be sworn in as a Minister in the State Cabinet tomorrow.
The swearing-in ceremony will be held at the Durbar Hall, Raj Bhavan at 0930 hrs tomorrow. Governor R.N.Ravi will administer the oath of office and secrecy to 45-year-old Udhayanidhi Stalin, who was elected from Chepauk- Thiruvallikeni Constituency in the city in his maiden entry into the electoral politics.
A Raj Bhavan release said “The Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu has recommended to the Hon’ble Governor of Tamil Nadu to induct Thiru Udhayanidhi Stalin in the Council of Ministers.”
“The Hon’ble Governor has approved the recommendation. The Swearing-in ceremony will be held on December 14 at 9.30 AM at Durbar Hall, Raj Bhavan”, the release said.
According to reports Udhayanidhi will be allocated the portfolios of Youth Welfare and Sports–at present held by Siva V.Meyyanathan along with Environment and Climate Change.
Udhayanidhi is also likely to be given the the portfolio of Special Programme Implementation, reports said. Though he had initially stayed away from active politics, he was one of the DMK’s star campaigners during the 2019 Lok Sabha election and in the 2021 Assembly polls, which he successfully contested for the first time and got elected to the State Assembly from a Constituency which had earlier elected his grand father and former DMK Patriarch and Chief Minister M.Karunanidhi thrice.
After his campaign tour turned out to be a stupendous success, with the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance sweeping the 2019 Lok Sabha polls winning 39 of the 40 seats in Tamil Nadu and Pucherry, he was rewarded with the leadership of the party’s youth wing.
His father had held this post for a long time from 1982 and 2017 before he came the Treasurer and the President of the DMK. Ever since the DMK came to power after a gap of ten years in May last year and Udhayanidhi got elected to the State Assembly, speculations were rife among his supporters that he would be inducted into the Cabinet during the swearing-in of the DMK government headed by Stalin.
Since his name did not figure in the list of Cabinet Ministers, Udhayanidhi performed his role as a MLA well in the Assembly proceedings winning accolades from party seniors, who had been favouring that he should be inducted into the Cabinet.
Udhayanidhi had so much support that even senior Ministers have been voicing their support for inducting him into the Cabinet and the chorus became louder last month during his birthday celebrations.
Udhayanidhi is also a prominent actor starting from his debut film “Oru Kal Oru Kannadi”, a full fledged comedy film that turned out to be a huge hit at the box office, following which he came a prominent hero in the Tamil film industry and played the role of protagonist in several film, which also turned out to be a success at the box office. He had also produced several films.
Reports said during the swearing-in tomorrow, Stalin is also likely effect a reshuffle in portfolios of some Ministers.
Commenting on the eve of Udhayanidhi’s induction into the Cabinet, Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly and AIADMK Interim General Secretary Edappadi K.Palaniswami accused the DMK of pursuing dynastic politics and promoting family rule.
