How Udhayanidhi Stalin used Sanatana Dharma as crutches to climb

Exactly a year ago, in September 2023, when Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin’s son, Udhayanidhi Stalin, compared the Sanatana Dharma to “dengue” and “malaria” and called for its eradication, he faced an unprecedented attack from the BJP and the AIADMK. Many were quick to conclude Udhayanidhi’s remarks had the potential to hinder his political rise.
A year later, although Udhayanidhi is still a minister in his father’s Cabinet, as he was then, news reports now suggest that he is likely to be elevated to the deputy chief minister’s post in the next 24 hours.
A valid question, therefore, is did Udhayanidhi, who faced the BJP and the AIADMK’s fierce backlash over his Sanatana Dharma comment, use the issue to his advantage?
If one were to go by the results, it seems Udhayanidhi used the Sanatana remarks to solidify his position as the Number 2 within the party by outdoing the others who were in a succession battle.
That Udhayanidhi’s promotion is imminent has been suggested by DMK leaders, including his father, MK Stalin.
“Change is the only constant and what people expect will happen soon,” MK Stalin said earlier this month, before flying out to the US.
In August, RS Rajakannappan, a DMK minister, renewed the chatter around Udhayanidhi’s elevation with a “slip of tongue”.
“The Chief Minister has said that education and medicine are like two eyes. He admires education so much. The benefit is that there is a department called skill development, which comes under our Deputy Chief Minister — sorry, our minister Udhayanidhi. Sorry, we can’t call him that before August 19,” Rajakannappan said.
In September 2023, Udhayanidhi Stalin sparked a big controversy when he said that Sanatana Dharma should be eradicated. This statement was met with severe backlash from the BJP and other opposition parties, who labelled the DMK as an “anti-Hindu” party.
Despite the criticism, Udhayanidhi Stalin stood by his comments, saying that he would face any legal consequences arising from them. “Will oppose Sanatana forever,” said Udhayanidhi, who comes from a political school evolving from Periyar EV Ramasamy’s Dravidar Kazhagam.
“I haven’t said anything wrong… I will not change my statement. I have spoken my ideology. I’ve not spoken more than what Ambedkar, Periyar or Thirumavalavan had said. I could be an MLA, a Minister or a Youth Wing Secretary and tomorrow I maybe not. But being a human is more important,” Udayanidhi said in November 2023, months after the Sanata Dharma row.
“We shall oppose it forever,” added the 46-year-old.
By sticking to his ground, he took care of DMK’s key voterbase, which thrives on Dravidianism and Tamil nationalism. He proved true to the Periyar lineage.
The Sanatana Dharma controversy, which was one of the reasons why his elevation was stalled ahead of the Lok Sabha election, helped address the succession battle within the DMK. The son of 71-years-old MK Stalin, wasn’t the only one eyeing the top spot.
What is interesting to note is the timing of the remark. It coincided with Kanimozhi, the daughter of DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi and stepsister to MK Stalin, drawing public attention and aspiring to a bigger role in the party.
As part of that effort, Kanimozhi visited a school that triggered a controversy over children refusing meals cooked by a Dalit woman. She went to school, served breakfast cooked by the Dalit woman, and sat on the floor to eat with the children.
The controversy surrounding Udhayanidhi’s comments on Sanatana Dharma, and his subsequent stance on the issue, strategically consolidated his position within the DMK at a time when two next-generation leaders — BJP’s K Annamalai and actor-turned politician Vijay — are taking the forefront in Tamil Nadu politics.
Kanimozhi had also been aspiring to a bigger role within the DMK.
Kanimozhi initially had a strained relationship with Stalin. However, following Karunanidhi’s death in 2018, Stalin began to integrate her more, but into national politics.
Tensions between her and Udhayanidhi surfaced in December 2021 when the latter called for increased enrolment in the party’s youth wing, a move Kanimozhi opposed. He sought to enrol women into the youth wing of DMK, a plan flagged by Kanimozhi.
MK Stalin had to intervene and shelve Udhayanidhi’s move.
Meanwhile, the stellar electoral performance of DMK and its allies in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, gave MK Stalin the chance to tackle the twin-aspiration dilemma. Kanimozhi was made the parliamentary floor leader in New Delhi, a post above party leaders in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, to manage its affairs.
Upon her installation, MK Stalin called her the DMK’s “thunderous voice of Delhi”.
The idea was to push Kanimozhi to Delhi, while keeping and elevating Udhayanidhi in Chennai, the power centre of the DMK.
Now, with Kanimozhi given the all-important role in Delhi, Udhayanidhi Stalin seems to have weathered a storm that could have derailed his political ascent. The Sanatana Dharma controversy, rather than diminishing his stature, allowed him to strategically consolidate his base while proving himself as the true inheritor of Karunanidhi’s legacy. The succession battle was sealed.
With MK Stalin subtly setting the stage for change and the DMK’s next generation stepping forward, Udhayanidhi’s rise to the Tamil Nadu Deputy CM’s post now feels less like a rumour and more like an inevitability in Tamil Nadu’s political theatre. And the Sanatana Dharma remark seems like a crutch that Udhayanidhi used to climb the DMK hierarchy.