Udhayanidhi Stalin, the ruling DMK’s youth wing secretary and MLA from the Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni assembly constituency, swore in as a minister in his Chief Minister father MK Stalin's cabinet as its 35th minister on Wednesday.
Udhayanidhi was sworn in as the state minister at a brief event held at Raj Bhavan in Chennai. He signed the oath of office and oath of secrecy in presence of governor R N Ravi and Chief Minister M K Stalin.
"I want to make Tamil Nadu the capital of sports in India," Udhayanidhi said immediately after taking the oath. On critics calling him a dynast, he replied, "it is not new to me. The same criticisms came up when I took charge as the youth wing secretary and then went to contest from the Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni constituency. I will give a reply to them through the work I do."
He said the DMK had already promised in its manifesto that a mini stadium will be set up in every district and he will work towards that. "My first step will be towards setting up these stadiums. Please point out if I make any mistakes," he added.
Incidentally, Udhayanidhi has withdrawn himself from his latest movie project, Kamal Hassan’s Raj Kamal movie production. "Mamannan is my last movie. I won’t be taking up cinema projects any more," he told the media.