COIMBATORE: The idea of Two Leaves symbol evolved in a butcher shop, said actor P Pandurangan, popularly known as ‘Pandu’, who designed the AIADMK party’s symbol and flag. In October 1977, when he returned from France after completing a doctoral degree, MGR called him home and showed him symbols to choose from. “When asked for the concept, he said the flag should clearly portray Dravida Munnaetra Kazhagam, but with the ideology of Anna (CN Annadurai). He also asked me to design the symbol in such a way that the people in the State remember it till their last breath,” Pandu said.
It was a Saturday. 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 16 symbols. “I chose two leaves considering many points,” said the octogenarian in an earlier conversation with Express.
“It is easy to draw on walls and people can easily relate to the symbol. It came to my mind that Winston Churchill, after World War II, flashed the victory sign with two fingers. Similarly, I thought MGR also could campaign by showing two fingers,” he said. “Immediately after selecting the symbol, I had informed this to MGR over telephone. Later, I met him in Chennai and explained why I selected this. He also congratulated me.”