Muthuvel Karunanidhi, or M. Karunanidhi, the longest serving Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, was a champion of equality and worked relentlessly and tirelessly for the poor and the downtrodden.
Interestingly, the champion for the Dravidian cause and who had insisted on the cadres and people of Tamil Nadu to use traditional Tamil names for their children, he named his son Stalin (after Soviet leader Joseph Stalin).
Karunanidhi had in fact decided to name his son Ayyadurai which was derived from Periyar’s Ayya and his mentor and former Chief Minister, C.N. Annadurai’s ‘Durai’. However during a condolence meeting on the passing away of Soviet leader, Josef Stalin, who died on March 5, 1953 Karunanidhi suddenly decided to name his son as Stalin who was born on March 1, 1953.
Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin, famously known as M.K. Stalin, did his schooling from Madras Christian College Higher Secondary School and graduated from the prestigious Presidency College, Chennai.
Just like his father, Karunanidhi, Stalin also commenced his political journey at a young age and organised a group of boys at the age of 14 to form the Gopalapuram Youth Wing of the DMK.
He campaigned extensively in the 1967 assembly elections for his uncle Murasoli Maran along with his friends at the age of 14 and it is clear that Karunanidhi had major plans for him and was deliberately grooming Stalin for a big time entry into politics.
At the age of 20, in 1973, Stalin was inducted into the general committee of the DMK. In 1976 while protesting against the Emergency, Stalin was arrested and jailed. This was the turning point of his political carrier and he was beaten up in prison. A fellow DMK worker, Chittababu, died of police torture while trying to protect Stalin.
Stalin even had to write his final year degree examination paper from within the prison. It was Stalin who formed the DMK youth wing in 1982 and became its general secretary. He held on to the post for four decades at a stretch.
R. Vadiyalingam, a retired professor of political science and an associate with Centre for Policy and Development Studies, a think tank based out of Chennai while speaking to IANS said, “Stalin was closely guarded and mentored by Karunanidhi. He had decided that Stalin would be his political heir even though he had other children.
“Stalin also lived up to his expectations and as general secretary of the youth wing of the DMK, he travelled across the state and motivated youths and picked future leaders for the party. Stalin like his father is a declared atheist but unlike many of the former DMK leaders, he did not oppose others from practicing their religious beliefs and endeared himself among the masses,” Vadiyalingam said.
Stalin contested unsuccessfully in the 1984 assembly elections from Thousand Lights Assembly constituency but in 1989 he won from the same constituency and entered the Tamil Nadu assembly. Stalin however lost the elections in 1991 from Thousand Lights constituency as the DMK government could not complete its term after being dismissed by the Central government.
In 1996, he again won from Thousand Lights assembly constituency and then there was no looking back for the young scion of Karunanidhi family. Karunanidhi slowly but certainly groomed Stalin for a big political carrier and his first big ticket entry was as the Mayor of Chennai in 1996.
He was the first directly elected Mayor of Chennai and from here on a different Stalin had emerged. Stalin evolved into one of the best Mayors of Chennai and coined a pet project, ‘Singara Chennai’ (Beautiful Chennai) and his efforts in improving the infrastructure of Chennai led to him being named as the Father of City or Mangara Thanthai.
The modernization of the garbage disposal system as well as the construction of new flyovers gave an impression that Stalin had emerged as a political heir. He constructed nine flyovers and 49 short bridges during his first tenure as Mayor of Chennai and se up fountains near 18 major junctions of the city.
M.K. Stalin had once said that an amount of Rs 95 crore was allocated for the construction of 10 flyovers in congested roads in Chennai city and after completing the projects, 30 per cent of the funds were remaining in balance in the account. This was due to the timely execution and implementation of the project in a cost saving manner.
Stalin was elected Mayor for the second time in 2001 but the then Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa enacted the Tamil Nadu Municipal Laws (Amendment) Act in 2002. This law prevents a person from holding two elected posts at the same time. Stalin was at that time an elected Mayor as well as a Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Thousand Lights Assembly constituency.
The Madras High Court however struck down the law but held that under Madras (now Chennai) City Municipal Corporation Act, 1919, a person cannot be a Mayor for two consecutive terms.
The scion of the DMK family became a minister in the 2006 assembly elections when his father, M. Karunanidhi was the Chief Minister. Stalin opted for rural development ministry and formed 1,75,493 women Self Help Groups (SHGs) across Tamil Nadu. Stalin became the Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on May 29, 2009.
In 2016, DMK lost power but Stalin became the Leader of Opposition and in 2018 after the demise of his father and former Chief Minister, M. Karunanidhi, he became the president of the DMK.
While closely observing the growth of Stalin, it is clear that he was groomed right from his younger days by his shrewd father but the young leader lived up to the expectations and became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu after travelling across the state and developing his own persona.
As the first elected Mayor of Chennai, Stalin emerged from the shadows of Karunanidhi. His experiences in administration as the Mayor of Chennai as well as the rural development minister have helped him emerge as one of the best chief ministers the state has seen.
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