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Lakshmi Subramanian
Lakshmi Subramanian

TAMIL NADU

With electric pole as party symbol, is it advantage OPS?

OPS-SASIKALA (File) O.Panneerselvam and V.K.Sasikala

Neither the Sasikala nor the OPS faction will have the traditional AIADMK symbol or the name of the party

  • While the OPS faction's success in getting the electric pole, which resembles the two leaves symbol, seems like a strategy, Sasikala’s team banks on the cadre support it has. In a state where people cast votes based on the leadership and the symbol, the absence of Jayalalithaa and the two leaves will haunt all three candidates

It was in 1972 that then chief minister M.G.Ramachandran sat with his friends over the night, designing the flag and two leaves symbol for his new party. He told people that his party will remain evergreen in their memories and also that the name of his mentor C.N.Annadurai will linger for a long time to come. But as his birth centenary inches closer, for the second time in the history of the party, his favourite two leaves symbol is frozen. Worse, even the party’s name has been held back.

Both factions of the AIADMK—Sasikala and O.Panneerselvam—have staked their claim to the party and the symbol. With the RK Nagar bypoll due April 12, the unavailability of the two leaves symbol will be a deterrent for both the factions. While the OPS faction chose the electric pole symbol with two electric lights on either side, reminiscent of the two leaves, the Sasikala faction got the hat symbol.

In this context, neither the Sasikala nor the OPS faction will have the traditional AIADMK symbol or the name of the party. However, they will have names with the Amma stamp on it.

Candidates of the two factions—TTV Dinakaran from the Sasikala camp and E.Madhusudhanan from the Panneerselvam camp—have filed their nominations. However, the names of the two parties—AIADMK Amma party and AIADMK Puratchi Thalaivi Amma party respectively—might not go well with the rank and file of the outfits.

While the OPS faction's success in getting the electric pole seems like a winning strategy, Sasikala’s team banks on the cadre support it has. In a state where people cast votes based on the leadership and the symbol, the absence of Jayalalithaa and the two leaves will haunt all three candidates. While Dinakaran calls DMK as his sole competitor this bypolls, Madhusudhanan, says, “we are the true AIADMK and after the elections you will know who Jayalalithaa’s true successor is.”

In fact, both the groups have still not given up their fight and they have submitted an exhaustive material with the EC claiming the two leaves symbol. Even now, both factions are set to move court over for the same. The Sasikala faction is banking on the precedent set by Akilesh Yadav, who, a year before, bagged the cycle symbol by virtue of leading the government.

While OPS has the advantage, courtesy the resemblance of his electric post to the two leaves, Dinakaran will have to go all the way to people to make them know his new symbol. And RK Nagar, being a middle and lower class area, where the women votes determine the victory, ensuring that his hat symbol reaches the public will be a hard task.

Apart from the two factions, Jayalalithaa’s niece Deepa Jayakumar is also in the fray. Her party has been named as the MGR-Amma-Deepa Peravai. Her outfit, too, has the Amma stamp in her party’s name and she happens to be one of the popular woman candidates in the fray.

But beyond all this, the party activists always had their sentimental attachment to the two leaves symbol. In fact, immediately after MGR’s demise, when the party split into two factions under his wife Janaki and Jayalalithaa, 'two doves' and a 'crowing cock' were the symbols given to them respectively. But Jayalalithaa, after she took over as the leader, renamed it as All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), and fought to get back the frozen two leaves symbol, only because of its popularity.

In the mid 1980s, when MGR was ailing, it was said that his fur cap, even if merely showcased, will fetch votes for the party. In fact, there were days when his fur cap and black spectacles were taken above a vehicle during the elections to seek votes. But it remains a question if the hat thrown by Dinakaran into the ring will win votes like MGR’s fur cap.

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