Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin[a] (born 1 March 1953) is an Indian politician and former actor serving as the 8th and current chief minister of Tamil Nadu since 2021. He is the third son of the former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, his son Udhayanidhi serving as deputy chief minister of state under him.
Stalin was born in Chennai on 1 March 1953 as the third son of M. Karunanidhi, the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, and Dayalu Ammal. Karunanidhi was addressing a condolence meeting for Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, who had died only four days after his child was born, and thus decided to name his son after Stalin.[4][5]
Stalin married Durga (alias Shantha) on 20 August 1975. They have two children. Their son, Udhayanidhi Stalin, is an actor and politician who has been Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu since 2024. Their daughter Senthamarai Sabareesan is an entrepreneur and education professional.[11][12]
His political career began in his early teens when he started the DMK Gopalapuram Youth Wing with several friends.[16] As a 14 year old, he campaigned for his uncle, Murasoli Maran, in the 1967 elections.[17][18] In 1973, Stalin was elected to the General committee of the DMK.[19]
He came to the limelight when he was jailed in Central Prison, Madras under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) for protesting against the Emergency in 1976.[20][21][22] He was beaten up in custody and a fellow DMK prisoner C. Chittibabu died of injuries and police torture while protecting him.[23][24][25] He wrote his final year BA exams while in prison.[5] Stalin formed the DMK youth wing. In 1982 Stalin became the youth wing secretary of DMK, a post he held for more than four decades. In 2011 Stalin changed his constituency for the first time in his political career, moving from Thousand Lights to Kolathur constituency on the outskirts of Chennai city.[5]
DMK Youth Wing
In 1968, Stalin started the DMK Youth Wing in Gopalapuram in a barber shop with his friends. In 1983, he transformed the Gopalapuram Youth Wing into a Statewide phenomenon and led the frontal as a Secretary, a position he held for more than four decades. During the early stages of the Youth Wing, he travelled across Tamil Nadu with other members to mentor fellow youth of the state in key areas of active politics at the grassroots level.[26]
DMK Deputy General Secretary
In 2003, Stalin became Deputy General Secretary of the DMK.[16]
Mayor of Chennai
Stalin became the city's first directly elected mayor in 1996.[27] He coined a pet project called Singara Chennai (Beautiful Chennai), lauded for improving Chennai's infrastructure.[5] His efforts in improving city infrastructure earned him the title of Managara Thanthai (father of the city).[28]
During his tenure as mayor, Stalin modernised the garbage disposal system of the city of Chennai by giving priority to cleaning works. He implemented integrated development projects such as health, public construction and schools. He solved the congestion of the city of Chennai by building huge flyovers.[29] During his first tenure, 9 major flyovers and 49 short bridges were built. He also improved the standard of Corporation Schools to be on par with private schools.[30][31] In addition, parks and fountains were set up at 18 major junctions. 81 parks were cleaned and properly maintained.[32] Saplings were planted at the Chennai Marina, the second largest beach in the world. The slaughterhouse at Perambur have been modernised to avoid polluting the environment. During his tenure, it was decided to build flyovers on 10 congested roads before the end of his term. ₹95 crores have been allocated for the construction of flyovers. However, 30% of the funds were left over when the flyovers were opened according to him.[33] He was re-elected Mayor for the 2nd time in 2001.[34]
However, the then Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa enacted the Tamil Nadu Municipal Laws (Amendment) Act, in 2002, which prevents a person from holding two elected posts in the government.[31] This law was applied retroactively to Stalin's case (he was an elected Thousand Lights MLA) in a move widely seen as aimed at removing him as Chennai's mayor.[35] However, the Madras High Court struck down the law stating that legislative bodies were not "prevented" from making laws affecting the "substantive rights" of persons retrospectively. However, the court held that under Madras (now Chennai) City Municipal Corporation Act, 1919, a person cannot be mayor for two consecutive terms, though unlike Stalin, earlier mayors were not directly elected.[28] MK Stalin did not appeal in the Supreme Court.[36]
Minister
In the 2006 Assembly Elections, the DMK regained control of the state assembly. 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 was instrumental in the extensive spread of Women Self-Help Groups across the State by establishing 1,75,493 Women SHGs. He also established various comprehensive drinking water projects such as Hogenakkal and Ramanathapuram water schemes.[18][31] In 2008, he became treasurer of DMK.[16]
Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
On 29 May 2009, Stalin was nominated as Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu by Governor Surjit Singh Barnala.[37] He was first Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
Opposition leader
During the 2016 Assembly election, Stalin went on a statewide tour titled Namakku Naame to appeal to the youth. Stalin won the Kolathur constituency and was appointed as the opposition leader.[38] In 2017, Stalin went on another Namakku Naame tour.[39]In 2013, Karunanidhi announced his younger son M. K. Stalin was his successor, confirmed in 2016.[40][41] Stalin had been appointed as the working president in January 2017 when his father's health started declining and had previously been named heir apparent by his father. In 2018, his father Karunanidhi died, leaving Stalin the president of the DMK.[18]
M. K. Stalin and Sedapatti Muthiah in 2018
Secular Progressive Alliance (2019 general election – present)
Stalin formed the Secular Progressive Alliance in Tamil Nadu and led the alliance in 2019 general election in the state.[42][43] The Secular Progressive Alliance won 39 out of 40 Parliament seats, and 12 out of 21 in the Assembly by-election, with 52% of the vote. It was his first victory since taking charge as DMK President.[44][45]
In the 2021 Assembly elections, Stalin led the campaign for the Secular Progressive Alliance. They won 159 seats out of 234, with the DMK itself winning an absolute majority with 133 seats.[46] Stalin took his oath as chief minister on 7 May 2021 along with the rest of his cabinet.[47][48]
Having taken oath amid the second wave of the pandemic, Stalin started a war room to monitor the status of beds, ambulances, and oxygen supply. He attended an SOS call of a lady, spoke with her for 30 minutes, and arranged for her a bed at a hospital.[49] He wore a PPE suit and visited the COVID-19 patients at their wards "against advice" in Government ESI Medical College Hospital.[50] A new economic advisory council was set up with leading economists, including Esther Duflo, Raghuram Rajan, Jean Drèze, Arvind Subramanian, and former Finance Secretary S Narayan.[51] Tamil Nadu was branded as a state with highest novel coronavirus vaccine wastage in the previous government but the Stalin government made the state to top in the list of states with lowest COVID-19 wastage policy.[52]
Stalin handed over appointment orders of the HR & CE Department to trained aspirants of all castes as temple priests in August 2021.[53] Stalin quoted the reformist leader Periyar in an official release which said Periyar fought for equal rights in worship for all those who believe in God.[54] In August 2021, Stalin ranked first among all Chief ministers of India with 42% in favour, in the "Mood of the Nation" survey done by the India Today magazine.[55] Stalin changed the name of Sri Lankan Tamil refugee camps to called ‘rehabilitation camps' and said "They are not orphans, we are there for them".[56] In September 2021, he announced that Periyar's birth anniversary will be celebrated as Social Justice Day every year.[57]
In June 2021, Stalin announced that the state law ministry will review the legal cases filed by the previous government. In September 2021, Stalin's government withdrew over 5570 legal cases filed by the previous AIADMK government from the past 10 years against the journalists and the protestors seeking the repeal of the three farm laws promulgated by the Union government, Citizenship Amendment Act, methane extraction, neutrino project, Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant and the Chennai-Salem Expressway project.[58][59]
Stalin contested the Assembly polls unsuccessfully from Thousand Lights constituency in Chennai. In 1989 Stalin contested Assembly polls from Thousand Lights constituency again, and won.[66] The DMK government got dismissed in 1991 before completing its full five-year term. In 1991, he contested for the third time from the same Assembly constituency, but lost to K. A. Krishnaswamy of the AIADMK. Again in 1996, Stalin won the election as an MLA from the Thousand Lights constituency.
Stalin's political career has included both successes and setbacks. He has been described as evolving from party functionary to pragmatic leader, with political observers noting public recognition of his administrative skills and his stands against sycophancy. An example of this was when M.K Stalin asked the Education Minister, Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhil not to print his photographs on 65 lakh (6.5 Million) bags meant for distribution among school children in the state, opting to retain pictures of his political adversaries from the previous government that had sanctioned the project.[67][68][69]
Stalin was commended by domain experts and other ministers across the country for not using public money to enhance his popularity among the “masses”.[70]
On 2 September 2021 the actor turned former Union Minister Chiranjeevi met with Stalin to commend him on governance efficacy and said he proved his mettle in handling the grave situation of COVID-19 pandemic. The media houses in Kerala lauded Stalin on his policies and efforts in controlling the spread of COVID-19 during the second wave, provision of free bus pass for women and ₹4,000 as a pandemic relief for ration card holders.[71]
The Shiv Sena Parliamentarian Sanjay Raut, in his weekly column Rokthok in party mouthpiece Saamana praised Stalin's governance style and criticised the centre's move to omit Jawaharlal Nehru and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad’s picture from ICHR’s Independence day poster ‘Azadi Ke Amrit Mahotsav.’ Raut said the central government is practising the politics of revenge and should learn a lesson from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Stalin, who allowed the distribution of 6.5 million school bags carrying photos of political rivals former chief ministers J Jayalalitha and E Palaniswami of the AIADMK, to ensure public money is not being spent on political vendetta.[72]
Awards and accolades
Anna University conferred an honorary doctorate for Stalin for his contributions to governance and community development.[73]
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.[74]
Stalin was also honoured as Kentucky's Goodwill Ambassador. It is imperative to note that the honour was formerly bestowed to notable personalities such as, Former US Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, Nobel laureate Winston Churchill and world-famous boxer Mohammed Ali.[75]
The Government of Tamil Nadu on 23 February 2011 received the Special Award for Best State among the Largest States in India and the Diamond State Award for Best State in 3 categories namely Civil Safety, Drinking Water and Sanitation and Women's Development.[76]
Tamil Nadu won the most number of Nirmal Gram Awards for its exceptional role in maintaining sanitation in the villages in the state. This prestigious award was received during Stalin's tenure as Minister of Rural and Local Administrator.[77]
↑ 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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