Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin[a] (born 1 March 1953) is an Indian politician who, since 2021, is serving as the eighth Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. His tenure as president of the political party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) began on 28 August 2018 and he served as the party's working president of party from January 2017 to August 2018.
Stalin began his political career in the late 1960s and he was elected to DMK's general committee in 1973. He was jailed during the Emergency in 1976. He became the secretary of the party's youth wing in 1982, a post he held for more than four decades. He served as the 45th mayor of Chennai from 1996 to 2002. He has been elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly eight times, and he served as the state's first deputy chief minister from 2009 to 2011.
In 2009, Anna University conferred upon Stalin an honorary doctorate. In 2022, The Indian Express named Stalin India's 24th-most-powerful personality.
Stalin established the youth wing of the DMK in 1980 and became its secretary in 1982, a post he held for more than four decades.[2] During the 1980s, he travelled across Tamil Nadu to encourage and mentor youth to join active politics.[21] In 1989, he was elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from Thousand Lights Assembly constituency, and represented the constituency five times.[2] In 2003, he became Deputy General Secretary of the DMK.[11]
Mayor of Chennai
Stalin became the Mayor of Chennai in 1996.[22] As mayor, he initiated the Singara Chennai (Beautiful Chennai) project to improve the city's infrastructure.[2] He modernised the garbage disposal system by giving priority to cleaning works, and implemented development projects in areas such as health, public construction and schools. He built flyovers to address traffic congestion.[23] During his first tenure, nine major flyovers and 49 bridges were constructed at a cost of ₹0.95 billion (US$11million).[24] He also worked on improving the standard of corporation-run schools to be on par with private schools.[25][26] Parks and fountains were set up at 18 major junctions, 81 parks were renovated, and saplings were planted at Marina Beach.[27] His efforts in improving city infrastructure earned him the title of Managara Thanthai (father of the city).[28]
Stalin was re-elected Mayor for the second time in 2001.[29] In 2002, the chief minister J. Jayalalithaa enacted the Tamil Nadu Municipal Laws (Amendment) Act, which prevented a person from holding two elected posts in the government.[26] Because Stalin was an elected member of the legislative assembly, this law was widely seen as an attempt to remove him as Chennai's mayor.[30]Madras High Court later struck down the law but held as per the City Municipal Corporation Act, 1919, a person cannot be mayor for two consecutive terms, though unlike Stalin, earlier mayors were not directly elected.[28] As a result, Stalin resigned from the post.[31]
Minister and deputy chief minister
The DMK regained control of the state assembly in the 2006 assembly elections. Stalin became the minister for rural development and local administration in the Government of Tamil Nadu, and retained this office throughout his term. During his tenure, he expanded women's self-help groups across the state by establishing 175,493 new ones. He also established drinking water projects such as the Hogenakkal and Ramanathapuram water schemes.[13][26] In 2008, he became the DMK's treasurer.[11]
On 29 May 2009, the Governor of Tamil NaduSurjit Singh Barnala appointed Stalin the state's deputy chief minister.[32][33][34] During his tenure, on 23 February 2011, the Government of Tamil Nadu received a special award for the best state among the largest states in India, and the diamond state award for best state in civil safety, drinking water and sanitation, and women's development.[35] The state also won the most number of Nirmal Gram Awards for its exceptional role in maintaining sanitation in villages during Stalin's tenure as the minister of rural development.[36]
Opposition leader and DMK president
In 2013, Karunanidhi announced Stalin as his successor to head the DMK and confirmed it in 2016.[37][38] Ahead of the 2016 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election, Stalin went on a statewide tour titled Namakku Naame. He won the Kolathur constituency and was appointed opposition leader in the state legislative assembly.[39] In 2017, Stalin went on another Namakku Naame tour.[40] He was appointed as working president in January 2017 when the health of his father, Karunanidhi, started declining. In 2018, Karunanidhi died and Stalin became president of the DMK.[13]
Stalin formed the Secular Progressive Alliance in Tamil Nadu and led the alliance in the state in the 2019 Indian general election.[41][42] The Secular Progressive Alliance won 39 out of 40 Parliament seats, and 12 out of 21 in the assembly by-elections, in the party's first victory since Stalin took charge as the DMK's president.[43][44]
Stalin led the campaign for the Secular Progressive Alliance in the 2021 Assembly elections; it won 159 seats out of the 234, with the DMK winning 133 seats, an absolute majority.[45] He was sworn in as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu on 7 May 2021, along with the rest of his cabinet.[46][47]
Stalin assumed office during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, and established a war room to monitor the status of beds, ambulances, and oxygen supply.[48] He visited the COVID-19 patients in the Government ESI Medical College Hospital against expert advice.[49] Tamil Nadu had the highest coronavirus vaccine wastage under the previous government, but the lowest COVID-19 vaccine wastage during Stalin's tenure.[50] On 2 September 2021, actor and politician Chiranjeevi met with Stalin to commend him on governance efficacy; Chiranjeev said Stalin had proved his mettle in handling the pandemic. Media in Kerala lauded Stalin on his policies and efforts in controlling the spread of COVID-19 during the second wave, provision of free bus passes for women and ₹4,000 as a pandemic relief for ration card holders.[51]
Stalin established a new economic advisory council that included economists Esther Duflo, Raghuram Rajan, Jean Drèze, Arvind Subramanian, and former Finance Secretary S Narayan.[52] Stalin handed appointment orders of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department to trained aspirants of all castes as temple priests in August 2021.[53] In an official release, Stalin quoted the reformist leader Thanthai Periyar, saying Periyar fought for equal rights in worship for all believers in God.[54] In September 2021, he changed the name of refugee camps of Sri Lankan Tamils to rehabilitation camps and said: "They are not orphans, we are there for them".[55] In September 2021, he announced Periyar's birthday would be celebrated annually as a social justice day.[56]
Stalin has been described as having evolving from party functionary to pragmatic leader; political observers noted public recognition of his administrative skills and his stands against sycophancy.[citation needed] In August 2021, he was ranked first among chief ministers of India in the India Today "Mood of the Nation" survey.[66] In 2022, The Indian Express named Stalin as India's 24th-most-powerful personality.[67] Domain experts[who?] and other ministers across India commended Stalin for not using public money to enhance his popularity.[68][bettersourceneeded]
Awards and accolades
On 1 August 2009, Anna University conferred upon Stalin an honorary doctorate for his contributions to governance and community development.[69][70][71][72] The Kentucky Colonel Award, the highest award given by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in the United States, was given to Stalin for his public service.[73] He was also honoured as Kentucky's goodwill ambassador.[74]
↑ R Kannan (28 June 2017). MGR: A Life. Random House Publishers India Pvt. Limited. pp.207–. ISBN978-93-86495-88-4. Archived from the original on 21 September 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
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