M.K Stalin, the DMK president who led his party to a huge victory in the Assembly polls, was sworn in as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on May 7.

Governor Banwarilal Purohit administered the oath of office and secrecy to 68-year old Stalin, the son of former chief minister M. Karunanidhi.

A total of 33 ministers were also sworn in following Stalin, of whom 15 are first-time ministers. 

The CM signed orders for giving away Rs 2,000 COVID-19 pandemic relief to two crore plus ration card holders, reducing state-run Aavin milk price by Rs 3 and to facilitate free of cost travel by women in state-run buses, which were all promises made by DMK. Also, COVID-19 treatment expenses in private hospitals would be covered in a government insurance scheme.

The DMK won 133 seats and alongwith allies including Congress secured victory in 159 constituencies in the Assembly polls out of the total 234. The AIADMK garnered 66 seats and its partners, the PMK and BJP, five and four segments respectively.

The rise of Stalin

Stalin who began his political career as a teenager grew steadily in the party and he was given more responsibilities in the government in a step-by-step fashion when Karunanidhi was the chief minister during 2006-11.

Born on March 1, 1953, Stalin campaigned for DMK in the 1967 elections when he was only a 14-year old school student.

He had held several party posts over about four decades before he became the party chief. 

For a long time since 1984, he was the youth wing secretary and he became party deputy general secretary in 2003.

He became an MLA for the first time in 1989 from the Thousand Lights segment, from where he was re-elected thrice.

In 1996, he was elected Mayor of Chennai and re-elected in 2001. However, he had to exit with the AIADMK capturing power which enacted a law that barred elected representatives also holding local body positions.

In 2006, he became the Municipal Administration Minister in the DMK government and went on to become the Deputy Chief Minister in 2009.

Though the DMK could not capture power in 2016 despite a no holds barred contest, Stalin continued to relentlessly take the fight against the AIADMK ahead. 

Followed by the big victory in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls when the DMK and its allies bagged as many as 38 seats out of the 39, the Stalin-led party had a distinctive edge over the AIADMK in rural civic polls too which was held towards the end of that year.

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