ALL INDIA ANNA DRAVIDA MUNNETRA KAZHAGAM

ALL INDIA ANNA DRAVIDA MUNNETRA KAZHAGAM

AIADMK was founded by Puratchi Thalaivar, Ponmanachemmal M.G. Ramachandran who was fondly referred to by the people of Tamilnadu as MGR on October 17, 1972. His vision for empowerment of the poor and disadvantaged is reflected in his quote which is close to the official motto of the party ‘Kodi pidikum thondan mudivedupan’ – The primary members of the party will take the ultimate decision. The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) is an regional political party with great influence in the state of Tamilnadu and the union territory of Puducherry. According to the AIADMK website, the two-leaves symbol stands to indicate that Jayalalithaa ‘is two times the magnificence of other leaders’ and that she specifically or any other leader of the AIADMK, ‘will work double for its people’. Its election symbol is ‘two leaves’ and this was designed by actor P. Pandu. Pandu was handpicked by matinee idol and former chief minister M G Ramachandran (MGR) to design the party’s symbol and flag after he split from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in 1972 and launched the ADMK (later renamed AIADMK). Pandu sought two days’ time; MGR granted him three. The next day, Sunday, he went to the butcher shop as usual, but his mind was fixated on a design that would stay with the people forever, he said. "At that time, I saw the lungs of the goat that was hung in the butcher shop. It struck me that without lungs one could not survive and turning it upside down, I designed the Two Leaves symbol,” he said, adding that the design excited MGR himself. But there is another claimant, the first-ever person to contest as AIADMK candidate, Maya Thevar, who won in the bypoll to the Dindigul parliament seat in 1973. He said during the meeting for allocating symbols ahead of the bypoll, the then District Election Officer and District Collector, PC Cyriac, showed him sixteen symbols. "I chose two leaves considering many points", said the octogenarian in an earlier conversation with Express.