Chennai: In an open letter to the people of Tamil Nadu ahead of Pongal earlier this month, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin dismissed “rumours” of his son, and state sports minister, Udhayanidhi Stalin’s elevation to the position of deputy chief minister.
While Stalin and Udhayanidhi have both termed the “rumours” a diversion tactic from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s Salem Youth conference, being held over the weekend, political analysts speaking to ThePrint called the Salem event a pedestal to establish the Stalin scion as the “heir apparent” in the party.
The theme of the youth conference is “state rights retrieval”.
Calling it a historic event to showcase the party’s vision and strength, Stalin added in the letter: “Party workers should not allow diverting the focus of the Youth Wing Conference, which would be the cry for state rights. The intention of the conference would be to protect state rights and federalism. Those opposed to this are spreading rumours”.
The two-day conference of the DMK youth wing, to conclude Sunday, was originally scheduled for 17 December, but was postponed twice owing to floods caused by heavy rainfall across the state.
“On two occasions the conference was postponed in the interest of the public. Udhayanidhi was very clear that when the people were in distress and when several districts were struggling for livelihood, he did not want a conference to be connected,” said A. Raja Tamilmaran, an organiser of the DMK riders’ bike rally.
According to Tamilmaran, Salem was chosen as the location for the DMK youth conference location by Udhayanidhi to change the trend of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (AIADMK)’s perceived dominance in the district.
In the 2016 and 2021 state assembly polls, AIADMK had won 10 of the 11 constituencies in Salem.
“To regain the glory of the party, Udhayanidhi decided that he wanted to have the location of the conference where the DMK had performed badly. Here is where the party has to be strengthened and the confidence of the cadres increased,” Tamilmaran added.
The event started with a torch rally from Chennai, traversing 316km crossing Kancheepuram, Villupuram and Kallakurichi districts, to finally reach Salem Saturday.
The torch rally carried by the youth wing members would then be handed over to Udhayanidhi, and from him to party president Stalin at the venue, said one of the organisers had earlier told ThePrint, on condition of anonymity.
The event will be formally flagged off by party deputy general secretary Kanimozhi Karunanidhi Sunday, in the presence of Stalin, party sources added.
Political analysts ThePrint spoke to said the event was a show of strength for the DMK and a means to promote Udhayanidhi as the “heir apparent” of the party.
“This is a programme where they want to project Udhayanidhi as the heir apparent and do a show of strength. The DMK is a feudal party, and right now the party’s senior leadership has been backing Udhayanidhi,” political analyst Sumanth C. Raman told ThePrint.
According to Priyan Srinivasan, another political analyst, one of the major aims of the event is to enthuse the cadres and the youth ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and “get them into election mode”.
Moreover, the event will also be a testing ground to assess the pulse of the cadres, “understand if Udayanidhi has managed to draw the youth wing towards him and also if he has a command over the party,” Srinivasan highlighted.
The analysts called the conference to be a “show for Udhayanidhi”.
“Udhayanidhi will be the next leader and this conference is for projecting that. But will the conference give an immediate boost for him, maybe not. He will have to wait a bit, at least till 2024 Lok Sabha polls, to ensure that the criticism of dynasty politics doesn’t become the dominant talk point before the polls,” said Srinivasan.
He also noted that the first DMK youth wing conference in Tirunelveli in 2007, which was organised 27 years after the wing’s formation, was the first sign of elevating Stalin as the next in line of the party after Karunanidhi. “Now, the second youth conference held in Salem will have the same impact for Udhayanidhi in his political careergraph,” he added.
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Drone show, photo exhibition & more
Speaking to reporters in Chennai Thursday, Udhayanidhi said that close to three to four lakh youth were expected to participate in the conference. The party will be organising logistics, food and seating arrangements for the participants from within the district and those travelling from outside.
According to organisers, while Stalin will formally inaugurate the event Sunday, the programme will begin a day before, with close to 20 DMK speakers scheduled to address the gathering.
Bike salutes, stage performances and party songs, as well a drone show showcasing the DMK’s journey so far are parts of the event.
A 23-point demand by the DMK youth wing to the Bharatiya Janaya Party-led Union government will also be put forward. “Placards in English and Tamil of 23 demands will be held by the DMK riders,” Tamilmaran had earlier told ThePrint.
Then there is a photo exhibition “on the journey of the Youth Wing, starting with its set-up when Stalin was 14 years old” and book stalls with leading publishers offering books on the ideology of the Dravidian movement, women’s rights and environment, among others.
Stalin recalls his youth wing days
On Thursday, in a letter to the cadres accessed by ThePrint, Stalin had called the youth conference the training ground for soldiers for the upcoming democratic battlefield. He had said he was ready and waiting to see each of their faces in Salem.
He reminisced about the formation of the youth wing in 1980 and how he was made the youth wing secretary in 1982.
“In 2007 the first youth conference took place. The event attracted the next generation of leaders to the DMK. The second youth conference now, in the face of the 2024 parliamentary elections is going to be a training ground to prepare the DMK’s young soldiers for the democratic battlefield, “ Stalin said.
Talking about the theme of the conference, Stalin noted that in the 1970 Trichy DMK state conference, Karunanidhi had put forth five points and the fifth one was “Autonomy at the State-Federalism at the Centre”.
“The principle of state autonomy aims to give more power to the states if the multi-faceted Indian Union has to be strong. Only when it is accomplished, the Union of India can function strongly in accordance with true federalism,” noted Stalin.
The CM added: “The second state conference of Kazhagam Youth is going to be held in Salem to show that there is an urgent need to carry out state autonomy forward in all the states in India.”
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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