The Congress led by Indira Gandhi selected The Hand as the symbol of the Congress (I) in 1978 after the party was split following its debacle in the 1977 Lok Sabha election. The claim by Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition, that the Congress' election symbol The Hand represents Abhaya Mudra of Lord Shiva and Guru Nanak is not correct, according to persons who were close to Indira Gandhi.
Indira Gandhi, who had offered prayers at Hemambika Temple in Palakkad district of Kerala at the instance of her acolyte K Karunakaran, decided to go ahead with The Hand symbol which is the presiding deity of the temple, popularly known as Sri Emoor Bhagwathy Temple. She had also consulted a battery of astrologers before making The Hand the party symbol. At the time of split of the party, the 'cow and calf; constituted the symbol of the party.
The Hand symbol proved the astrologers right as Indira Gandhi and the Congress (I) decimated the Janata Party which had been disintegrated into many Dals by the time. "The Hand symbol has nothing to do with Lord Shiva or Abhayamudra or even Guru Nanak. This is the first time I hearing such claims," said P Rajan, former editor of Mathrubhumi who has more than six decades of experience behind him as a political chronicler.
