Mulayam spoke on phone to his son Akhilesh & took a chartered flight for Lucknow
NEW DELHI : Mulayam Singh Yadav has taken a chartered flight from Delhi to Lucknow this morning after he spoke on the phone to his son, Akhilesh Yadav, in the middle of a seething battle over who should control their Samajwadi Party, sources said. Akhilesh Yadav, who is Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Minister, has, with the backing of thousands of party workers, replaced his father as party chief.
Mulayam Singh, 77, has said that’s a no-go and that his camp – considerably smaller than that of his son’s – is what should be recognised as the legitimate Samajwadi Party. The Yadavs have plunged their party into a crisis just as Uttar Pradesh gets ready to vote.
Here are the 10 latest developments in this big story: After this morning’s phone call between father and son, there is talk within the party of a new attempt at finding a truce. Mulayam Singh has so far not expelled the Chief Minister from their party.
The call was organised by senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, who also brokered a meeting over the weekend between Akhilesh Yadav and Mulayam Singh.That meeting did not end the family feud. Mulayam Singh met the Election Commission yesterday to demand that the party symbol – the cycle – remain his property.
The symbol, familiar to voters for decades, is an incredibly valuable asset. Today, Akhilesh Yadav’s mentor, Ram Gopal Yadav, meets with the Election Commission to present a counter-claim.
Team Akhilesh will argue that he has the support of as many as 220 of the party’s 229 state legislators and that decisions taken -including the removal of Mulayam Singh as Samajwadi president – followed the party’s playbook.
The Election Commission could choose to suspend or freeze the party symbol and not allot it to either side. Ram Gopal is Mulayam Singh’s cousin. He has sided with Akhilesh Yadav through months of a widening rift with Mulayam Singh.
Mulayam Singh’s closest aides are Shivpal Yadav, his younger brother, and Amar Singh, who was welcomed back to the party after being expelled a few years ago.Akhilesh Yadav has publicly declared he mistrusts them and accused them of inciting his father against him.
The young Chief Minister was unable to prevail upon his father to accept his list of candidates for the election, or to strike an alliance with the Congress.zeenews.com
