Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav yesterday said he remains the party president and his son Akhilesh Yadav was only the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.
“I am the national president of SP and Akhilesh is the chief minister of UP,” Mulayam Singh reporters here.
He added that the decision taken by Akhilesh’s supporters to appoint the chief minister as the party chief was null and void.
Akhilesh Yadav continued to be the chief minister, Mulayam added, hinting that he did not recognise his son as the party boss.
Mulayam Singh also said Ram Gopal Yadav had been expelled from the Samajwadi Party and hence he had no right to call the national convention where Akhilesh Yadav replaced his father as the party chief.
On January 1, the Akhilesh faction dislodged Mulayam Singh as the party president and designated the former chief minister and ex-defence minister as the “marg darshak” (mentor).
Since then, both factions of the Samajwadi Party have approached the Election Commission to claim the election symbol “cycle” ahead of assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.
Ram Gopal Yadav, a Rajya Sabha member, has emerged as a key strategist for Akhilesh Yadav in what has turned an initial family squabble into a full-fledged political battle in Uttar Pradesh.
Meanwhile, a day after the Akhilesh faction told the Election Commission it has the signatures of support from a majority of SP lawmakers, Amar Singh, who is part of the opposing Mulayam faction, claimed the signatures were forged.
“The signatures of support are forged and hence their authenticity is doubtful,” said Amar Singh, who is said to be the cause of the rift in the Yadav family.
He also said that proving support is not a pre-condition to appropriating the party symbol in case of a split.
“The number of MLAs supporting you matters when a government has to be formed, not for (laying claim to the) party symbol,” Singh was quoted as saying by ANI news agency.
On Saturday, after meeting EC officials, Ramgopal Yadav said his faction was at an advantage because they submitted relevant documents sooner than the deadline of January 9.
“We (Akhilesh faction) have submitted all relevant documents, brought seven cartons with more than 1.5 lakh pages to the Election Commissioner office,” Ramgopal said.
“We have most of the MLAs on our side and the SP led by Akhilesh Yadav is the real Samajwadi Party. Hence we have the right over the ‘cycle’ symbol.”
In other developments, the name plates of Mulayam’s and his brother Shivpal, have been reinstalled at the party headquarters in Lucknow and that the office has since been locked.
On New Year’s eve, supporters of Akhilesh removed Shivpal’s nameplate.
The assembly elections in the most populous and politically significant state in India will be held in seven phases between February 11 and March 8.
On Saturday, senior SP leaders including Shivpal Singh Yadav, Azam Khan, Om Prakash Singh and Narad Rai met Mulayam Singh and held discussions on the possible way out of the infighting.
Sources said while both Shivpal and Amar Singh told Mulayam that they were “ready to be the sacrificial lambs” if it brought the warring father-son together, the truce offer was turned down by Mulayam himself.
Mulayam Singh demanded that Akhilesh first step down as the SP national president, after which his demand for a larger say in ticket distribution will be considered.
The Akhilesh camp declined the offer. The chief minister wanted a “three-month free hand to win the polls” and then back off in favour of his father.


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