#HBDStalin: A look at DMK Son’s political journey

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin celebrates his 70th birthday today.

Named after the famous former Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin, he was born on March 1, 1953. He is the third son of 2nd Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M Karunanidhi.

Here is a look at Stalin's political journey:

• Stalin started his political journey in his early 20s.

• When he was in school at the age of 14, he was part of the election campaign for his uncle Murasoli Maran in the 1967 elections.

• In 1968, he created the DMK youth wing, DMK Gopalapuram Youth Wing, with his friends for his neighbourhood in Chennai.

• He gained limelight when he was jailed in Central Prison, Madras under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) for protesting against the Emergency in 1976.

• In 1982, Stalin became the youth wing secretary of DMK, a post he held for more than four decades.

• Stalin contested his first legislative assembly election in 1984 from the Thousand Lights constituency in Chennai, but lost. He won the same constituency in the next Assembly election in 1989. Re-elected three times from the same constituency, he switched to Kolathur constituency in 2011.

• Stalin was the first directly elected Mayor of Chennai in 1996, holding the position until 2002. He coined a pet project called Singara Chennai. He was given the nickname of ‘Managara Thanthai’ (Father of the City).

• He became the Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in 2009, the first to hold the position in the State.

• After his father’s demise in 2018, he led the party and secured 38 of Tamil Nadu's 39 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections.

• On 7 May 2021, Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin took oath as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu after his party won 133 of the total 234 assembly seats.

• In May 2022, Stalin hailed the release of Perarivalan, convicted in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi

Today, DMK has planned to celebrate the chief's birthday in a grand style and a slew of events like gifting gold rings to new-borns, saplings to farmers, blood donation camps, hosting community baby shower events, assistance including providing notebooks to students, community lunch, eye care service, public meetings and sporting events are on line.

Party's IT wing has initiated a Selfie portal, where one can take a virtual selfie with CM Stalin and post on their social media handles.

A public meeting is planned at YMCA Nandanam at 5 pm, where Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Bihar deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, and ex-Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah are expected to be present.