Lucknow: Warring father-son Mulayam Singh and Akhilesh Yadav ended yet another long meeting in Lucknow today without finding common ground. The one-on-one meeting came after Mulayam Singh Yadav seemed to initiate a reconciliation by saying last evening that Akhilesh would be Chief Minister again if the Samajwadi Party wins the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, to be held in multiple phases starting February 11.
The deal-breaker is the position of party president, usurped from his father by Akhilesh Yadav at a party meeting on January 1. Mulayam Singh Yadav asserts he is still party president and wants Akhilesh to give up his claim. Akhilesh, who is backed by a majority leaders and lawmakers in the party, is adamant that he will hold the post for three months and will relinquish it once the UP elections are finished.
The 43-year-old Chief Minister deeply mistrusts his father's closest aides, Mulayam Singh's younger brother Shivpal Yadav and Amar Singh, and wants them kept away from crucial decision-making in this period. His demands - that Shivpal Yadav be removed as the party's UP chief and Amar Singh be sacked - have not been agreed to by Mulayam Singh.
In the power struggle perilously close to the elections, while Akhilesh Yadav has accused Shivpal Yadav and Amar Singh of instigating Mulayam Singh against him, his father's camp has targeted his uncle and staunch supporter Ram Gopal Yadav, accusing him of misguiding Akhilesh.
As Mulayam Singh, who too met the Election Commission to stake claim to the party symbol on Monday, declared that there was "no rift" with his son, Ram Gopal urged the poll panel to take a quick decision on which faction would get the "cycle," indicating that Team Akhilesh is no mood to bend.
The deal-breaker is the position of party president, usurped from his father by Akhilesh Yadav at a party meeting on January 1. Mulayam Singh Yadav asserts he is still party president and wants Akhilesh to give up his claim. Akhilesh, who is backed by a majority leaders and lawmakers in the party, is adamant that he will hold the post for three months and will relinquish it once the UP elections are finished.
The 43-year-old Chief Minister deeply mistrusts his father's closest aides, Mulayam Singh's younger brother Shivpal Yadav and Amar Singh, and wants them kept away from crucial decision-making in this period. His demands - that Shivpal Yadav be removed as the party's UP chief and Amar Singh be sacked - have not been agreed to by Mulayam Singh.
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In the power struggle perilously close to the elections, while Akhilesh Yadav has accused Shivpal Yadav and Amar Singh of instigating Mulayam Singh against him, his father's camp has targeted his uncle and staunch supporter Ram Gopal Yadav, accusing him of misguiding Akhilesh.
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As Mulayam Singh, who too met the Election Commission to stake claim to the party symbol on Monday, declared that there was "no rift" with his son, Ram Gopal urged the poll panel to take a quick decision on which faction would get the "cycle," indicating that Team Akhilesh is no mood to bend.
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