Chennai
The ploy is to focus on those who climbed the rungs due to nepotism, which, interestingly, would have an effect on Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami’s rivals among dissenters as well.
Besides Stalin’s son, the list also includes MLAs Mahesh Poyyamozhi and TRB Raja, and DM Kathir Anand MP, all of whom hail from political families. An AIADMK senior said the IT wing has planned memes and other content on these younger politicians.
The plan is to show how the next generation used their family clout not just for political growth but for their business ventures as well, the person told DT Next.
The families promoting nepotism in the state would be a topic during the Assembly election campaign, the senior said.
Interestingly, those from CM Palaniswami’s camp believe that by raising the issue of nepotism, they would be able to keep in check not only Stalin, but even VK Sasikala and O Panneerselvam.
AIADMK would also face the wrath of the public if it promotes family politics, the source said, noting those including OPS’s son Raveendranath Kumar, D Jayakumar’s son Jayawardhan and Rajan Chellappa’s son Raj Sathyan would come under fire from the DMK.
According to professor Ramu Manivannan, head, department of political science, Madras University, family succession had always been in the State. “Whatever the DMK wants to do with Udhayanidhi they will do. The succession from Karunanidhi to Stalin was a long process, but Stalin to Udhayanidhi is short thus inviting controversies. However, Udhayanidhi’s performance as the next leader is yet to be tested. We should wait for public reaction and should not jump into conclusions. In my view, corruption will always be the top campaign topic followed by alliance arithmetic; succession of Udhayanidhi will be a minor issue,” he added.
After the then youth wing leader Vellakoil Swaminathan was asked to resign to promote Udhayanidhi, which created a debate, the latter was again in news after the disgruntled DMK MLA Ku Ka Selvam charged that he was controlling the party, noted political commentator SP Lakshmanan. This showed that the DMK failed to address internal problems in the party, he opined.
“In my view, the AIADMK should not focus on Udhayanidhi. The target should always be the DMK and its president Stalin. If they campaign against Udhayanidhi, it will only elevate the young leader,” Lakshmanan added.
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