Udhayanidhi likely to be made Dy CM in TN Cabinet rejig

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin confirmed the state Cabinet’s reshuffle on Tuesday and assured that people will not be disappointed. But he was silent on the elevation of his son Udhayanidhi Stalin as Deputy Chief Minister.

“There will be no disappointment, there will be change soon,” Stalin said when asked about the state Cabinet reshuffle. There has been much speculation over this new role for Udhayanidhi, who is the sports and youth welfare minister as of now.

State minister Tha Mo Anbarasan last week said the elevation of “Junior Stalin” as Deputy Chief Minister of the state is imminent.

Answering a question, he told reporters at Kanchipuram that Udhayanidhi will be for sure announced by the government as Deputy CM within a week to 10 days. “May be, the announcement could happen tomorrow,” he said answering another, related question. A few days ago, Udhayanidhi himself deprecated disturbing superstar Rajinikanth with a question on the matter and said there has been no formal announcement yet and this decision was the CM’s prerogative.

Reporters asked the veteran actor about the expectation in the ruling DMK when he was at the airport, but he declined to comment on the matter and made it clear to them not to pose political questions.

Later, addressing an event, Udhayanidhi said some (media outlets) had posted a thumbnail/heading in YouTube as though the actor was incensed by the prospect of him becoming the Deputy CM. “What is the heading they have given? What an impression it will give (to readers)?” he asked, adding that he was himself taken aback. “I am not the Deputy CM yet. There is no announcement yet. It is the prerogative of the Chief Minister,” he added.