It is yet another “Son Rise “ in the DMK, the party with  “Rising Sun” as its electoral symbol. Closely after the landslide victory registered by the DMK in the recent Lok Sabha election where the party-led Secular Progressive

Alliance (SPA) routed the AIADMK-led front, Udhayanidhi Stalin, son of party chief MK Stalin has been unofficially declared as the “heir apparent” to the latter.

In a rebuff to H Vasanthakumar, the newly elected Congress  MP from the Kanyakumari Lok Sabha constituency, who demanded that his party be allocated the Nanguneri Assembly constituency from where a by-election is due, Udhayanidhi  declared that such issues would be decided by the DMK president Stalin. “My father is very considerate while heeding to the demands made by alliance partners. But he should not be taken for granted by all,” warned Udhayanudhi while addressing a public meeting on Tuesday which was presided over by Stalin himself.

The junior Stalin, who is also the grandson of late party president M Karunanidhi, made it in unequivocal terms that the DMK was the real leader in Tamil Nadu and others are destined to oblige to the decisions made by Stalin.

Vasanth Kumar was representing the Nanguneri Assembly constituency when he was fielded as a Congress nominee from Kanyakumari Lok Sabha constituency. The Congress candidate trounced the BJP’s Pon Radhakrishnan by a huge margin. Vasanth Kumar, paternal uncle of Tamil Nadu BJP chief Tamilissai Sounderatajan, quit his assembly membership on Monday which has necessitated the  assembly bypoll.

While speaking to the media, Kumar had said that the Congress should be allocated the Naguneri during the by-poll. But the DMK fielded Udhayanidhi to nip in the bud the Congress dreams of Nanguneri.

The campaign to the Lok Sabha election in Tamil Nadu stood out this time as it was Udhayanidhi  who led the party’s attack against the AIADMK and the BJP.  Udhayanidhi, who has been confined to his acting profession  till the death of party leader M Karunanidhi in August 2018, finds himself elevated to the role of the chief executive of Murasoli, the DMK’s mouthpiece which is an important position in the party hierarchy.

Stalin has entrusted his close lieutenant M Subramanian, the former mayor of Chennai Municipal Corporation, the task of elevating Udhayanidhi to the top policy making  body of the DMK. Udhayanidhi’s public functions and speeches are all devised by Subramaniam as per the directives of Stalin, said a senior DMK leader.

“By all means Udhayanidhi is the heir apparent to Stalin and there is nothing surprising in it. It is how the DMK and other regional parties in Tamil Nadu  function.  It is the pattern in DMK, DMDK as well as MDMK,” said Govindarajan  Satyamurty, veteran scribe and commentator.