Tamil Student Council (TMC), the student wing of DMK, will project Tamil culture and pride across campuses in the southern state. According to sources, the student body is being relaunched to commemorate the centenary celebrations of DMK leader M. Karunanidhi.
According to senior DMK leaders, the Tamil Student Council will conduct discussions, debates, and elocution contests on Dravidian culture and pride. Scholars of the Dravidian movement will attend workshops on Dravidian culture.
According to sources in the DMK, Youth Welfare and Sports Development Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, the president of the DMK youth wing, is the brain behind the move.
While on the outside DMK is projecting Tamil culture and pride, within the party its leaders are trying to wield their influence among the youth and students of the state.
Sources in DMK told IANS that while initially only arts and science colleges would be in focus, the functioning of the student body will later be extended to professional colleges, including government and private medical colleges.
DMK student wing Secretary C.V.M.P. Ezhilarasan told media persons that the idea is to project the student body in 720 college campuses across the state, not just for political mileage but also to develop interest among the students in the culture and pride of Tamil Nadu and the Tamil people.
The Tamil Students Council will enrol a minimum of 100 students from each campus, and it plans to have 72,000 members from the state’s 720 campuses.
DMK Organising Secretary R.S. Bharathi told IANS that Karunanidhi had taken the initiative to install a student body in Thiruvarur during the early days of his political career, and the DMK is trying to remould the campuses by holding debates and discussions on Dravidian culture and pride. It may be noted that a significant churning is taking place in the DMK, with many of its district units already making suggestions to catapult Chief Minister M.K. Stalin’s son, Udhayanidhi Stalin, as the Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
Political observers note that the DMK has launched this initiative to counter the influence of actor Vijay and BJP leader Annamalai among youngsters in Tamil Nadu.
This story is based on an IANS wire feed.
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