Will a bitter succession war erupt in the DMK again, or will M K Stalin, whom M Karunanidhi anointed his successor in his lifetime, continue to hold sway over the party? This is the question the DMK workers are asking themselves as they prepare for life in the party after the death of their "Thalaivar" (leader) who held a vice-like grip over the organisation for half-a-century as its chief. M K Alagiri and M K Stalin, the two sons of the DMK doyen, have been at loggerheads for years now before the former was expelled from the party in 2014, after a stint as a union minister in the UPA government.

Before his expulsion at the height of his succession battle with the younger sibling, Alagiri, known for his mercurial temper, had famously questioned if the DMK was a "mutt" where the pontiff could anoint his successor, an apparent reference to their father. Alagiri, in political exile since his expulsion and living in faraway Madurai, was with the family during Karunanidhi's last days as he battled for life in a city hospital, and a senior DMK leader said there was no chance of the party getting caught in a succession battle again. "Every issue has been settled," he told PTI, speaking on condition of anonymity. He said even as the DMK's first family presented a picture of unity during the hospitalisation of Karunanidhi from July 28 till his death on August 7, they, including the 'warring' brothers, held "open talks".