Stalin also hit out at the AIADMK and said that the party is not working for the people.

Soon after being elected unopposed as the president of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Tuesday, MK Stalin vowed to take forward his father and former party chief M Karunanidhi's legacy in his address to party workers.

In an apparent dig at Alagiri, he said that he has a sister but, no brother. Alagiri was expelled from DMK in March 2014 by Karunanidhi for slanderous attacks on senior party members and carrying out anti-party activities.

Stalin also hit out at AIADMK and the BJP. He said that the AIADMK is not working for the people and the welfare of the people is not the party's priority. With regard to the BJP, he said that the party is polarising the country on religious lines and urged DMK workers to throw out the Narendra Modi government out of power in 2019.

He also said that the political situation today has come as a grave challenge. "Education, art, literature, religion are under attack by authoritative and communal forces. The Union government is trying to destabilise judiciary, selection of governors," he said while adding that this has dealt a blow to secular principles.

"Let's teach a lesson to the Modi government," he added. Stalin said the rights of state governments were being trampled upon and the Modi government needed to be taught a lesson.

He appealed the DMK members to work for the downtrodden, protect the freedom of speech, and fight against the imposition of other languages on Tamil Nadu, according to India Today. Stalin promised that the DMK's new leadership would reflect the views of the party members and supporters.

Stalin was elected unopposed as president of the DMK on Tuesday and was the only candidate to file his nomination for the party chief's post on 26 August, DMK general secretary K Anbazhagan said at the party's general council meeting.

Stalin's elevation, about three weeks after the death of Karunanidhi on 7 August, comes amid threats from Alagiri that the party will have to face "consequences" if he is not re-admitted into its fold. Party patriarch Karunanidhi became the first president of the DMK in 1969.

Chants hailing Stalin as Thalapathy (commander) went up at the Kalaignar Arangam where the meeting was held. DMK principal secretary Durai Murugan was elected treasurer, a post Stalin vacated recently.

Anbazhagan, a party veteran, recalled that Karunanidhi had once said he had not performed any duties for Stalin's progress as a father, but he had performed his duties and made him proud as a son.

With inputs from agencies