The Election Commission of India (ECI) is going to give its verdict on the ownership of the Samajwadi Party ‘Cycle’ emblem on January 13. Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav is in Delhi and he will be explaining the EC why he should be given the party symbol for the upcoming assembly elections.
On the other hand, from the Akhilesh faction, senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP Ram Gopal Yadav will be present in front of the EC to counter Mulayam Singh Yadav.
The EC will be hearing both the factions today and then will likely to deliver its decision on which faction should get the party symbol for the upcoming elections. One of the possibility is that the symbol could be ‘frozen’ by the EC and neither the son nor father will get it.
On the other hand, the Akhilesh faction has a plan-B ready with them. If they didn’t get the cycle symbol, they will ask for ‘motorcycle’ symbol. As confirmed by some party sources, the motorcycle will represent a step ahead of the cycle.
Delhi: Mulayam Singh Yadav and Shivpal Yadav arrive at Election Commission office pic.twitter.com/HHx4CPcXXB
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) January 13, 2017
Delhi: Kapil Sibal arrives at Election Commission office where both factions of Samajwadi Party are already present pic.twitter.com/yKtDglowtj
— ANI (@ANI_news) January 13, 2017
Delhi: Akhilesh Yadav’s supporters including Ramgopal Yadav, Kiranmoy Nanda and Naresh Agarwal also arrive at Election Commission office pic.twitter.com/ILdY9m045R
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) January 13, 2017
Uttar Pradesh ki janta bhi chaahti hai ki Akhilesh Yadav ji dobara mukhyamantri bane: Rajendra Chaudhary,SP pic.twitter.com/maZSKLr1t4
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) January 13, 2017
On January 10, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav met his father Mulayam Singh Yadav but after a long conversation, they failed to diminish their differences.
On January 6, Akhilesh supporters had submitted affidavits to the EC claiming support for the chief minister. Ram Gopal had also claimed that the documents submitted to the EC ran into over 1.5 lakh pages and bore signatures of over 200 MLAs, 56 of the 68 MLCs, 15 of the 24 MPs and nearly 4,600 of over 5,000 delegates.
On January 3, both factions of the SP had petitioned the EC staking claim over the party and its symbol. The Election Commission had given both sides time till January 9 to submit proof of their legislative support. If the Election Commission cannot reach any decision before January 17, then the party symbol might be frozen and two different symbols would be provided to both factions for contesting the assembly elections.
