List of deputy chief ministers of Tamil Nadu
The Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu is an optional post and is second in command to the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. The first person to hold the office of Deputy Chief Minister was M. K. Stalin, who took office on 29 May 2009 and left on 15 May 2011. The Chief Minister during that time was his father M. Karunanidhi.
M. Karunanidhi, the then-Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, underwent a spinal cord surgery in 2009, which made him wheel-chair bounded. He was unable to concentrate on many of the departments from his portfolio due to his weakened health, so he decided to allocate some departments to his son, M. K. Stalin, who also held the post of Local Administration Minister in his cabinet, thus resulting in the creation of the post of Deputy Chief Minister Tamil Nadu. Karunanidhi still held the responsibility of Home Department himself.
On 21 August 2017, the rebel faction under former chief minister O. Panneerselvam and the ruling faction of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam decided to merge into one. As a result Panneerselvam was sworn in as the 2nd Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
Deputy Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu
Timeline
Living former Deputy Chief Ministers
As of, there is only one living former Deputy Chief minister of Tamil Nadu| Name | Portrait | Term of office | Date of birth |
| M. K. Stalin | 29 May 2009 - 15 May 2011 |
Records
- O. Panneerselvam is the longest serving deputy chief minister of Tamil Nadu.
- O. Panneerselvam is the only deputy chief minister of Tamil Nadu who served as the chief minister.
- M. K. Stalin was the first deputy chief minister of Tamil Nadu.
- M. K. Stalin was the youngest deputy chief minister of Tamil Nadu.
- M. K. Stalin was the only deputy chief minister of Tamil Nadu to receive Honorary Doctorate.