Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.Okay. Stalin’s 17-day journey to the US to draw investments to the state has quickly quelled hypothesis in regards to the appointment of his son, Udhayanidhi Stalin, because the deputy chief minister.
Nonetheless, ThePrint has learnt that the interior strife involving senior and junior members of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which surfaced proper earlier than the chief minister left for the US, is without doubt one of the causes behind the postponement of Udhayanidhi’s elevation.
Stalin is presently within the US to debate funding proposals with multinational corporations and meet the Tamil diaspora. Earlier than the CM left, Udhayanidhi made an attraction on 25 August to senior members of the occasion to make method for youthful leaders.
“The youth are prepared to hitch our occasion and are geared up to take up accountability. However we have now to carry their fingers and information them, and make method for them,” he stated at an occasion organised by the occasion’s engineer wing as a part of the year-long celebrations of the beginning centenary of his grandfather, former chief minister M. Karunanidhi.
Indicators of disgruntlement amongst occasion leaders got here to mild after actor Rajinikanth took a “pleasant” jibe at senior DMK chief and minister Durai Murugan and older leaders at an occasion final week.
In accordance with political commentator P. Sigamani, these are indicators of a long-standing feud throughout the occasion. “There are a number of seniors, who serve no objective and are a burden to the occasion. The difficulty has been brewing for a very long time, and has come out in a lighter method.”
Sources instructed ThePrint that Udhayanidhi’s elevation to the place of deputy chief minister was postponed because of a strife on these traces. “He was imagined to have been given the place lengthy again. Nonetheless, there are additionally expectations throughout the occasion that it could be shared. At one level of time, there have been discussions to nominate three deputy CMs, together with Udhayanidhi. However the thought was dropped,” a extremely positioned supply within the DMK stated.
ThePrint had reported beforehand how Udhayanidhi, as secretary of the youth wing, managed to efficiently deal with his first project of enlisting at the least 10,000 supporters from every constituency on his personal with out a lot assist from most senior ministers, again in 2019.
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Rumblings amongst ‘old-timers’
On 24 August, on the launch occasion of a e-book written by Tamil Nadu minister E.V. Velu, actor Rajinikanth lauded the chief minister for his dealing with of the “old-timers” within the occasion, who gave a troublesome time to Stalin’s father and former chief minister Karunanidhi.
“It’s simple to deal with the brand new college students, however the problem is to deal with the old-timers. The old-timers right here should not the failed college students. They’ve all secured excessive ranks and are refusing to depart the college,” Rajinikanth stated. He went on to say Durai Murugan, saying that it was an enormous problem for Karunanidhi to deal with the chief.
Reacting to the remark the next day, the minister additionally took a dig on the actor, saying that older actors proceed to be in limelight with “fallen tooth and gray hair”.
Nonetheless, each of them later claimed that the “banter” was not “acrimonious”.
The supply quoted above confirmed that the rift between the seniors and juniors has existed since Udhayanidhi’s appointment as youth wing secretary, and later as minister of youth welfare and sports activities improvement. “Although there was no seen opposition from the senior leaders, the resistance towards Udhayanidhi was delicate,” the supply stated.
Referring to Rajinikanth’s comment the subsequent day on the DMK engineer wing’s occasion, Udhayanidhi appealed to senior leaders to information youthful ones to tackle extra accountability within the occasion.
DMK organising secretary R.S. Bharathi instructed ThePrint that Udhayanidhi’s remark was an invite for youthful individuals to hitch the occasion, and never a battle between the seniors and juniors. “All of us work beneath Stalin’s management. We might settle for no matter he says.”
Earlier than Stalin for the US, when reporters requested him a few potential cupboard reshuffle after his return, he took a pause to say, “Change alone is fixed. Wait and see.”
Stalin’s US journey
Stalin left for the US earlier this week and can return to Chennai on 12 September.
Earlier than leaving, he instructed media individuals that Tamil Nadu had acquired funding proposals, amounting to Rs 10,882 crore, by means of 17 memorandums of understanding (MoUs), which have been signed throughout his earlier overseas journeys to UAE, Singapore, Japan and Spain.
“The investments might generate job alternatives for over 18,500 individuals within the state,” he stated.
A complete of 872 MoUs had been signed since DMK got here to energy in 2021, he stated, with funding proposals value Rs 9,99,093 crore, promising employment alternatives for about 18.89 lakh individuals.
Nonetheless, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) spokesperson R.M. Babu Murugavel demanded the discharge of a white paper on the influence of the chief minister’s overseas journeys. “All the things is obtainable within the type of a press release. There aren’t any actuality checks on the variety of investments introduced by means of such journeys,” he stated.
Nonetheless, Stalin clarified that releasing a white paper would result in competitors between states for funding. “It has not been the custom and the buyers wouldn’t encourage it due to the competitors,” he stated.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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