NEW DELHI -- Mulayam Singh Yadav, Amar Singh and Shivpal Singh Yadav met the Election Commission to stake claim on the cycle symbol as the familial battle in Uttar Pradesh's ruling party continued to intensify. Akhilesh Yadav's camp also met the poll panel.
After his meeting with the EC Mulayam Singh Yadav said that there was no rift with Akhilesh Yadav but there was only one man causing rift in the party. He seemed to be shifting the onus on his cousin Ramgopal Yadav for the entire fiasco. "There is some problem in the party. One person is behind this feud...sure that issues will be resolved. There is no problem between me and my son (Akhilesh Yadav). Our party symbol is disputed. The Election Commission will decide on the symbol," Mulayam said.
He said now it is upto the EC to decide who will get the cycle symbol. Mulayam has also sent a letter to Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari about the expulsion of Ram Gopal Yadav.
After the Akhilesh camp met the EC, Ram Gopal Yadav said that they had urged the EC to expedite decision on the symbol as they will soon start nominating candidates for the upcoming polls in UP. He also refused to say anything on Mulayam Singh's comments on the feud.
Mulayam Singh Yadav reiterated on 8 Jan that he remains the president of Samajwadi Party while his son Akhilesh Yadav is the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. Since Ram Gopal Yadav had been suspended from the party on 30 Dec, he had no right to call a national convention on 1 Jan and therefore Akhilesh's appointment of party chief which happened at the convention is illegal.
He is also expected to ask the EC to check the authenticity and legality of papers submitted by his son Akhilesh Yadav's aide Ram Gopal Yadav which proves that Akhilesh enjoys majority support within the party. Mulayam Singh's aide Amar Singh had claimed that the signatures on the papers were forged.
In a bid to buttress claim over the 'cycle' symbol, Akhilesh Yadav-led camp represented by Ram Gopal had earlier submitted an affidavit mentioning that Samajwadi Party leaders are supporting the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister.
Ramgopal said that the relevant documents, brought in "seven cartons with more than 1.5 lakh pages", were submitted to the poll panel to assert Akhilesh's right over the party's name and symbol.
He said that he submitted affidavits of 4,716 delegates of the total 5,731, indicating overwhelming support for Akhilesh.
There are high chances that EC may freeze the symbol if it is not able to decide which of the two factions of the party commands majority in the organisation.
(With inputs from agencies)
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