Election Commission has asked Mulayam Singh, son Akhilesh to explain why they're entitled to "cycle"
Highlights
- Akhilesh Yadav and father Mulayam Singh compete for party symbol
- No sign of truce, their Samajwadi Party is approaching a split
- For rights to cycle, both must offer proof of who has bigger faction
and estranged father
Mulayam Singh have been told that they have till Monday to explain why they are entitled to their party's symbol of the cycle. The Yadavs have placed the Samajwadi Party precariously close to splitting as Uttar Pradesh sets up for the election which begins on February 11.
Akhilesh Yadav, 43, has asked Samajwadi legislators and those who hold party posts to attend a meeting today and sign documents saying they back him; the papers will then be furnished to the Election Commission to prove his faction, as the majority, is the legit Samajwadi Party.
A series of
attempts by Akhilesh Yadav and his 77-year-old father to call time out on their feud have failed in recent days. At heart is the issue of who should run the party. The young Chief Minister wants to decide election candidates and is insistent on the sidelining or
removal from the party of uncle Shivpal Yadav and Amar Singh, his father's closest aides. Mulayam Singh says that he was illegitimately declared removed from post of President by Akhilesh Yadav and wants his office back. Unsurprisingly, Shivpal Yadav, who is his younger brother, has vetoed a new Samajwadi Party line-up of leaders that would place him on the fringes.
With that, the Yadavs have circled back to breaking point, outpacing other scandals in a week with no shortage of political drama. Last night, when asked about whether a reconciliation is impossible, Akhilesh Yadav said "these things take time," indicating that negotiations continue. His mentor, another uncle named Ram Gopal Yadav, however, told reporters definitely that "there will be no compromise."
Prepping for the reality of the party breaking into two, both sides have asked the Election Commission to award them the rights to use the cycle symbol. Its easy recall among voters especially on ballot papers makes it an immensely valuable asset. Team Akhilesh claims that he has the support of 220 of the Samajwadi Party's 229 law-makers in Uttar Pradesh. Meetings called by him have seen a much larger turnout of party members than rival sessions held by his father. Now, both leaders have been told by the Election Commission to present, by Monday, signed documents listing the names of the legislators who are backing them.