Chennai, Sep 2
Tamil Student Council (TMC), the student's wing of DMK, will project Tamil culture and pride across campuses in the southern state.
As per sources, the student body is being relaunched to commemorate the centenary celebrations of towering DMK leader late M. Karunanidhi.
The Tamil Student Council, according to senior DMK leaders, will conduct discussions, debates, and elocution contests on Dravidian culture and pride. Workshops will also be conducted on Dravidian culture which will be attended by scholars of the Dravidian movement.
According to sources in the DMK, Youth Welfare and Sports Development Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, who is also 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, later the functioning of the student's body will be extended to professional colleges, including government and private medical colleges.
DMK student's wing Secretary C.V.M.P. Ezhilarasan told mediapersons 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 on the culture and pride of Tamil Nadu and Tamil people.
The Tamil Students Council will enroll a minimum of 100 students from each campus with plans to have 72,000 students as its members from the 720 campuses of the state.
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 carrier, 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 major 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.
In the Lok Sabha elections held earlier this year, Udhayanidhi Stalin led the DMK campaign and travelled across the length and breadth of the state, making him the leader to cover the maximum distance -- 8,465 km -- during campaigning.