M K Stalin has consolidated his position in DMK but challenges still galore

Stalin now has undisputed control over his party, with the added advantage that because he has micromanaged so many successive elections, he knows the organisation inside out

When M Karunanidhi, the patriarch of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), died last year after naming his third son M K Stalin as his heir and successor, there was extensive speculation about the fate of the party, not only because of the challenges to Stalin’s leadership from his brothers and sisters but also his capacity to forge relationships with the DMK’s traditional alliance partners. The fear was that he would not be taken seriously by anyone.

Those apprehensions have proved to be unfounded so far. True, the DMK lost the RK Nagar Assembly constituency resoundingly to a candidate from the Sasikala