Chennai : MK Alagiri, elder brother of DMK working president MK Stalin, on Monday launched an attack against his brother and mounted a challenge to his leadership, a day ahead of crucial DMK executive council meeting.

Strong statements questioning the leadership abilities and failure rate of Stalin from Alagiri have brought the simmering sibling rivalry out in the open and an indication that mediation efforts of family members of bringing the two estranged brothers together had failed.

Alagiri maintained that true followers of Kalaignar were with him and only those with money and with positions in DMK were with Stalin and said time will show who stands where.

After paying homage to his father at his memorial in Chennai, the former union minister and elder son of Karunanidhi, Alagiri said, “”I came to my father’s grave to express my feelings & sentiments. You will come to know about it (his political stand) later”.

Alagiri is not even a primary member of the DMK after Karunanidhi expelled him from primary member of the party in 2014 for anti-party activities. Alagiri had also questioned Karunanidhi’s decision to announce Stalin as his successor, stating that “DMK is not a Mutt, for anybody to nominate.”

An angry Alagiri reacted caustically to the DMK’s humiliating loss in RK Nagar assembly seat where breakaway AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran. Alagiri said after the DMK candidate lost deposit, “not just the RK Nagar bypoll, the DMK will not henceforth win any election. There is no chance of that as long as this working president (Stalin) is there.”