Does Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin’s public spat with Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman have more to do with the way his aunt Kanimozhi has been receiving help from the Centre in combating floods in her Thoothukudi Lok Sabha constituency? It seems so. Stalin Jr who represents an assembly segment in Chennai-Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni, seemed to be struggling to reach out to flood hit in Chennai, when Kanimozhi had already managed to reach her constituency because of a tip off from the Centre and be with her voters. Apart from taking IMD red alert warning seriously, Nirmala also had a chat with her. The FM had taken up the issue of mobilising NDRF support for southern TN districts with Home Minister Amit Shah. In fact, Kanimozhi publicly went on to acknowledge in a post on X the kind of help she received from the Centre via FM. It appears Udhayanidhi tried to step out of his home in Chennai only to compete with his aunt who seemed to be doing well in her constituency. So it seems Udhayanidhi’s petty quarrel with the FM over TN not asking “anyone’s father’s money but only a share of the tax paid by its people” could be more of a point he wanted to settle within the family