AIADMK@50 Two leaves: A split, a merger and an encore

When the January 1989 Tamil Nadu assembly election results were declared, the outcome brought the curtain down on a political potboiler. The DMK won 150 seats. A faction of the AIADMK, led by J Jayalalitha, won a mere 27 seats. Janaki Ramachandran, leading the rival AIADMK faction, which contested with the ‘two doves’ symbol, won just one seat.