AIADMK's 'two leaves' symbol goes to EPS-OPS faction; another blow to TTV Dhinakaran

NEW DELHI: The AIADMK's iconic 'two-leaves' symbol has been given to the united faction led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and Deputy CM O Panneerselvam, reports have said. The ruling by the Election Commission is a big blow to the already battered faction led by TTV Dhinakaran, the nephew of VK Sasikala.

Soon after the Election Commission ruling, Palaniswami, or EPS, as he has come to be known, was responding to allegations that his faction had won the symbol solely due to its cozying up to the Narendra Modi government.

"It is wrong. We had facts on our side. Majority of MLAs, MPs and party workers were with us. All this was taken into consideration," he said, according to news agency ANI.

The EPS-OPS faction can now claim the political legacy of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. The EC ruling comes after months of intense political and legal wrangling. Jayalalithaa had herself won the right to use the symbol in a factional battle against MGR Janaki, widow of party founder MG Ramachandran (MGR).

The Dhinakaran faction, which is seen as a front for the family of VK Sasikala, is already under strain. It had been subject to raids by Income Tax Department officials at around 200 locations on November 9.

Palaniswami had taken over as Chief Minister with the backing of Sasikala's family and the MLAs it controlled. It's rival faction, led by Panneerselvam, had demanded as part of the merger of the two factions that the unified party should be purged of the influence of all Sasikala family members. Dhinakaran had then broken off with his own faction.

The battle of the 'two leaves' symbol began in the run-up to the bye-election to the Radhakrishnan Nagar Constituency, which has been vacant since Jayalalithaa's death.

The 'two leaves' symbol is iconic in Tamil Nadu politics. It was the symbol of MGR, who remained Chief Minister from his party's first election in 1977 till his own death in 1987. Under Jayalalithaa, the symbol raked in landslides whenever it won.

Anecdotal evidence, however far-fetched, claims there are pockets of the state where people blindly vote for the 'two leaves' symbol under the impression that MGR is still alive. Perhaps that's why AIADMK factions have warred over the symbol twice, thirty years apart.

(With inputs from ANI)