Chennai: The DMK has elected former Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin as the legislature party leader in the House.
Party sources said on Sunday that former DMK minister and senior leader K N Nehru has been chosen as the deputy legislature party leader.
In addition, former DMK minister E V Velu has been elected as the party whip.
The DMK has 59 MLAs and will function as the principal opposition in the House.
The Tamil Nadu Assembly has 234 members.
Although TVK on its own did not secure the majority in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, Joseph C Vijay managed to get support from the Congress, VCK, CPI, CPI (M) and IUML to gather 120 MLAs and cross the 118 majority mark to form the government.
“It is officially (TVK president) Vijay versus Udhay (in the assembly). As I have predicted, Udhay will find this role very difficult, “ said veteran journalist Radhakrishnan RK.
“Without the experience of sitting in the opposition benches like KN Nehru or EV Velu, Udhay will find it challenging to negotiate this turf. If he does well, he will earn the respect of the people,” he added.
In the April 23 Assembly elections, Udhayanidhi Stalin contested in the Chepauk-Thiruvellikeni assembly seat for the second consecutive time and secured 62,992 votes. He defeated Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam candidate D Selvam by a margin of 7,140 votes.
