AIADMK symbol row: EC decision could hand advantage to Panneerselvam over Sasikala
The two leaves have withered in the summer of 2017, thanks to the heat generated by the two rival camps of the AIADMK. In technical parlance, they have been frozen, which means the RK Nagar by-election on 12 April will not see either the two leaves symbol or the AIADMK name in its present form being used by any candidate. What the two candidates - TTV Dinakaran belonging to the VK Sasikala camp and E Madhusudhanan from the O Panneerselvam camp - have done is to choose a party name that shows their linkage to the AIADMK. So RK Nagar will see a contest between AIADMK Amma (Sasikala camp) and AIADMK Puratchi Thalaivi Amma (OPS camp). Throw MGR Amma Deepa Peravai - the outfit started by Jayalalithaa's niece, Deepa - into the mix and you realise Amma's stamp is all over this alphabet soup battle for her constituency. The two factions of the AIADMK have also chosen two symbols. While OPS has gone with an electric pole with its close resemblance to two leaves, Sasikala went for