Anna carried a dry lemon for Governor

In 1967, the DMK waited for over a week to stake its claim to form the government. Party founder C.N. Annadurai had contested only from the South Chennai Lok Sabha constituency and not for the Assembly. The DMK MLAs, at their meeting on March 1, 1967, at Rajaji Hall, elected him as the Legislature Party Leader. DMK leader M. Karunanidhi, in his autobiography Nenjukku Needhi, says that Anna met Governor Ujjal Singh on March 2. “Only after crossing the Saidapet Bridge did it occur to us that we had not brought anything to present to the Governor. How could we meet him empty handed? We stopped the car near a shop and bought a lemon. It was dry, but we had no option. Anna hid it in his hand and thrust it into the hands of the Governor as soon as we met him,” he recalled.

He hid it in his hand and thrust it into the hands of the Governor when we met himM. Karunanidhi

B. Kolappan