Two days after ousting Mulayam Singh, Akhilesh Yadav meets him for 3 hours

The meeting was held hours after Ram Gopal Yadav, SP leader and adviser to the CM, met the three Election Commissioners in New Delhi to apprise them of Akhilesh’s appointment as party president. The meeting lasted about half an hour.

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With the announcement of elections to the UP Assembly expected soon, the Akhilesh and Mulayam camps are both staking claim to the SP’s ‘cycle’ symbol. Mulayam and Shivpal had approached the Election Commission on Monday. Apart from claiming the poll symbol, they are also learnt to have stressed the illegality of the party convention on Sunday where Akhilesh was named SP chief.

Ram Gopal is learnt to have told the EC that the convention on Sunday was attended by majority of party MPs, MLAs and MLCs. “The purpose was to let the EC know that the faction led by Akhilesh is the real party. But there was no direct reference to the party symbol,” said a source.

Later in the day, the EC received three sets of written applications along with documents from Ram Gopal. Mulayam’s camp despatched their dossier of documents on Monday evening.

“These documents will be examined as per relevant provisions of the Election Symbols Order, 1968,” said a source.

Until a final decision is taken, the EC is likely to freeze the cycle symbol and ask the factions in the SP to fight the Assembly elections with two different symbols.

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Ram Gopal, who had called the convention on Sunday, said Akhilesh was the leader of the SP and the election would be fought under him. Akhilesh supporters claimed the convention was called on the demand of party office-bearers and that his election as SP national president was supported by over 90 per cent of party functionaries.

Leaders from the Mulayam faction have, however, called the convention unconstitutional, saying that only the party president — Mulayam, in this case — has the right to call such a meeting.

In a brief reference to his expulsion from the party on Sunday evening, Ram Gopal told reporters that the decision was not formally notified by the SP.

With inputs from Delhi