It is risky to see political developments in black and white, ignoring the greys. What is being overlooked in the euphoria – or call it a sense of relief – at the merger of the two factions of the AIADMK is the extreme unease among many party old-timers. They are dismayed at the manner in which the running of the AIADMK has almost been outsourced to the BJP. Some others put it more harshly, terming it a hostile takeover.

“Delhi wants the body of the AIADMK without its head,'' is how an AIADMK MP who belongs to the Edappadi Palaniswami camp described the situation in the party to a fellow journalist in Delhi.

Leaders in Chennai point out how the Modi-fication of the AIADMK helps only the BJP and the rump group led by O Panneerselvam.