M. K. Stalin‘s political career began in his early teens when he started the DMK Gopalapuram Youth Wing in a tea shop with some of his friends. As a 14-year-old, he campaigned for his uncle, Murasoli Maran, in the 1967 elections.
In 1973, he was elected to the General Committee of the DMK. He came to the limelight when he was jailed in Central Prison, Madras (Chennai), under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA), for protesting against the Emergency in 1976.
M. K. Stalin was beaten up in custody, and a fellow DMK prisoner C. Chittibabu died of injuries and police torture while protecting him. He wrote his final year BA exams while in prison. He formed the DMK youth wing. In 1982, he became the youth wing secretary of DMK, a post he held for more than four decades.
In 2003, M. K. Stalin became Deputy General Secretary of the DMK. In 2011, he changed his constituency for the first time in his political career, moving from Thousand Lights to Kolathur constituency on the outskirts of Chennai city.
M. K. Stalin became the city’s first directly elected mayor in 1996. He coined a pet project called Singara Chennai (Beautiful Chennai) and was lauded for improving Chennai’s infrastructure. His efforts in improving city infrastructure earned him the title of Manager Thanthai (father of the city).
