On Tuesday, DMK Working President MK Stalin and his brother MK Alagiri, stood shoulder to shoulder as their father's coffin was lowered into the ground near the Anna memorial in Marina beach. Less than a week later, the elder brother stood at the very same spot on Monday to signal an incoming rebellion in the party.
"They will not put what I say on Kalaignar TV or Sun TV," MK Alagiri began sarcastically, after paying respects to his late father. "I was expressing my anguish to my father. All the men loyal to Kalaignar are on my side," he proclaimed.
And did this mean he was challenging the existing DMK leadership?
"Time will answer those questions,” he replied ominously, leaving the memorial even as more questions were posed at him.
Over the last few days, the chorus amongst supporters of MK Alagiri has been steadily growing for his re-induction into the party. Several videos and posters have also been doing the rounds on social media hailing Alagiri as the party strongman. His son Dayanidhi Alagiri has further been titled a future leader. Alagiri was expelled from the DMK in 2014 by the general secretary K Anbazhagan. He was the party's south zone organisational secretary when he was removed for persistent slanderous attacks on party seniors and anti-party activities. He had taken his sibling rivalry with MK Stalin too far.
"This is a sign that MK Alagiri wants to get back into the party. The anguish that he was expressing to his father is over his continued expulsion from the DMK," explains PM Mannan, an Alagiri loyalist who was expelled in 2014 as well. "He does not want to take over the party. Stalin can be President. But Alagiri must be given back control of south Tamil Nadu. His political acumen and electoral expertise are important for DMK to win future polls," he adds.
Though his supporters say this, Alagiri himself is only willing to say that he is no longer with the party.
Sources in the DMK, however, claim that Stalin and the leaders who support him are not concerned about this development. Any attempt at a rebellion from Alagiri is a 'non-starter,' the source further adds.
Another source in the family meanwhile said that this does not pose a challenge to Stalin's leadership. He further adds that the possibility of Alagiri's re-induction into the party seems unlikely.
But despite this nonchalance, the DMK has, contrary to its usual ethos, told its spokespersons not to speak about the issue.
"Alagiri is not an external threat. He is a threat from within the family itself and they are wary of different voices emerging from the same family," a source close to Stalin said. "We were expecting him to create problems but not this soon after the funeral. Since he is family they may go soft on him," he adds.
There was a buzz in the DMK a few days ago that Stalin was not averse to the idea of taking Alagiri back to counter TTV Dhinakaran in south Tamil Nadu. But another source working closely with Stalin denied this completely. “We don’t believe support for TTV has grown in the last few months and so we don’t need to actively counter him. Bringing Alagiri back to counter TTV or anyone else is not worth it, since he will create more trouble within the party and all the leaders know it,” said the source.