Many Rounds Lost To Son Akhilesh Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav Picks Fight Over Cycle

New Delhi:

When Akhilesh Yadav, then only 39 years old, won Uttar Pradesh in 2012 to become the country's youngest chief minister, his victory was powered by his free-wheeling campaign, promising jobs, education and development, all while mounted on a cycle, which is the Samajwadi Party's symbol.

On Monday, his father, Mulayam Singh Yadav, claimed that the symbol - with its easy and established recall - should be considered his political property as the Samajwadi Party cleaves just ahead of the election in Uttar Pradesh.

Mulayam Singh, 77, met the powerful Election Commission on Monday evening, accompanied by trusted advisor and younger brother Shivpal Yadav,  a top-line contributing factor to Akhilesh Yadav's hostile takeover on Sunday of the Samajwadi Party.  

Mulayam Singh, who arrived in Delhi from Lucknow, earlier in the day also met with Amar Singh, another close lieutenant who is on Akhilesh Yadav's hit list. Mr Singh has reportedly lined up a slew of legal experts to back the argument that Mulayam Singh remains the chief of the original Samajwadi Party and is therefore the rightful owner of the cycle symbol.

But at a party gathering attended by thousands on Sunday in Lucknow, Akhilesh Yadav, in a hostile takeover, was named President of the Samajwadi Party; he then pushed his father into retirement by declaring he would now function as patron and mentor.  

None of that is acceptable to Mulayam Singh. "I have done no wrong, nobody can accuse me of corruption or any other wrongdoing," he said today, adding that its symbol is "my signature." Mulayam Singh and his aides like Shivpal Yadav and Amar Singh insist his faction is the legit Samajwadi Party, a hollow claim given that on two occasions on the weekend, most party members and lawmakers chose to attend Akhilesh Yadav's meetings, ignoring rival gatherings called by Mulayam Singh.

Akhilesh Yadav's mentor and uncle, Ram Gopal Yadav, will meet the Election Commission on Tuesday at 11.30 am. If they also seek rights to the symbol, the cycle may be parked or "frozen" by the Commission while it decides the case. On record, it is Mulayam Singh who currently has ownership since he filed the original documents when his party was founded.

Akhilesh Yadav's wresting of control from his father has been anything but a stealth attack. For months, backed by Ram Gopal Yadav, he has contested various decisions taken by his father, including the shunning of an alliance with the Congress and the Chief Minister's choice of candidates for the approaching election.