Samajwadi Party: Akhilesh meets Mulayam as fight over party symbol escalates

Mangalore Today News Network

Jan 03, 2017: With the two factions of the Samajwadi Party standing at the doors of Election Commission, Uttar Pradesh chief minister and the party’s incumbent president Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday arrived at Mulayam Singh Yadav’s residence in Lucknow. Mulayam Singh had just returned from the national capital, where he met with EC officials to stake claim on the party’s electoral symbol – cycle – and met suspended party leader and close aide Amar Singh on Monday.

Party general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Ram Gopal Yadav is in New Delhi to put forth Akhilesh Yadav’s claim as the new national president of the party. It is unlikely, however, that the Election Commission would be able to resolve the dispute ahead of the Uttar Pradesh elections. However, the panel may, in the interim, freeze the party symbol and provide ad-hoc recognition to the two factions under names similar to the parent party.

This latest round of tensions in the party started over issuing tickets for the upcoming state elections. Soon after both Akhilesh and Mulayam released their own set of candidates, Akhileshand Rajya Sabha MP and SP general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav were expelled from the party for six years on December 30 for “gross indiscipline” by the party patriarch Mulayam Singh. After a meeting at Mulayam Singh’s residence the next day, the announcement to revoke the expulsion was made by Shivpal Yadav.

Akhilesh has since replaced Mulayam as the party president, after being elected at a National Executive meet held by the party general secretary.