The election symbol is the most valued possession of any political party. The ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu is no exception. Its ‘two leaves’ symbol popularised by the party’s founder-leader MG Ramachandran has been prohibited in the 12 April by-election in the RK Nagar Assembly constituency by the Election Commission of India. Following the death of former AIADMK Chief Minister J Jayalalitha on 5 December, the party has split into two: one faction claiming the support of the people led by O Panneerselvam who succeeded Jayalalitha as CM on 6 December and the other by VK Sasikala who grabbed the general secretaryship of the AIADMK though she was not eligible to hold the post. She is not even eligible to be a voter for the next 10 years. The majority of the AIADMK MLAs chose to sail with Sasikala for considerations not worthy of their calling. She has chosen her nephew TTV Dinakaran, against whom several serious criminal cases are pending and his citizenship itself is suspect, for the RK Nagar seat and gave him Form B (authorisation for nomination of a candidate) to contest on behalf of the AIADMK. The Panneerselvam faction has nominated E Madhusudhanan, president of the AIADMK presidium, for the seat. The EC was put in a dilemma on the question of allotting the ‘two leaves’ symbol. According to Para 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, whenever there is a split in the party the symbol should go to the group with the majority. In the present case, the Sasikala faction holds the majority in the legislature as proved in a recent vote of confidence. But the MLAs were kept in harness and taken straight to the Assembly without giving them an opportunity to visit their constituencies. The EC had taken recourse to Para 15 of the Election Symbols Order in deciding the Samajwadi Party symbol dispute in favour of Akhilesh Yadav recently. But the AIADMK symbol dispute is not that simple. In this case, the EC relied on the precedent set by the order of the then Chief Election Commissioner R V S Peri Sastri freezing the ‘two leaves’ symbol. Following the death of MGR in 1988, the first split in the AIADMK occurred: one group was led by his widow Janaki Ramachandran and the other by Jayalalitha. Just as in the present case, the majority in the legislature claimed by the Janaki group could not be established beyond doubt. Peri Sastri’s compromise offer to have a free symbol each incorporating a miniature form of ‘two leaves’ was rejected by both. In the Assembly election held in January 1989 both factions of the AIADMK without the benefit of the ‘two leaves’ were routed. Only after the merger of the two groups and restoration of the ‘two leaves’ symbol was the AIADMK able to win an election and form the government in 1991. For the 12 April by-election to the RK Nagar Assembly seat, neither faction is permitted to use even the name AIADMK, let alone the ‘two leaves’ symbol. One does not have to be a psephologist or an astrologist to predict the outcome of the RK Nagar polls. History is repeating itself.