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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  EC reserves order on SP’s cycle symbol after Mulayam, Akhilesh argue case
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EC reserves order on SP’s cycle symbol after Mulayam, Akhilesh argue case

Election Commission told both Samajwadi Party factions that its judgement on the cycle will be delivered at the earliest

No one argued for freezing the symbol, it is one of the options available with the Election Commission. Photo: AFPPremium
No one argued for freezing the symbol, it is one of the options available with the Election Commission. Photo: AFP

New Delhi: The Election Commission (EC) on Friday reserved its order on which faction of the Samajwadi Party will get the right to fight the Uttar Pradesh election on the cycle symbol— the latest bone of contention in a fight that has pitted father against son.

After a series of internal tussles, factions led by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and his father and party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav are fighting over the electoral symbol weeks before the seven-phase state polls start.

On Friday, the battle reached the EC, which held a tribunal-style meeting in which it heard leaders and lawyers from both factions. The hearing went on for nearly five-and-a-half hours, after which the EC reserved its order, which it will likely pronounce soon.

Interestingly, senior Congress leader and lawyer Kapil Sibal represented the Akhilesh faction. “Both the sides put their arguments. First lawyers from the Akhilesh Yadav-led faction, and then Mulayam Singh Yadav’s lawyers put forward their views. Both sides said that the election symbol should go to them... the EC has said they are reserving the order," Sibal told reporters.

According to a person aware of the proceedings before the EC, the meeting began with Akhilesh’s lawyers saying that a majority of Samajwadi Party members of Parliament and members of the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly are with him. The second half of the meeting saw lawyers for Mulayam claiming that a party convention in which the chief minister was anointed Samajwadi Party chief was against the party’s constitution.

While Mulayam attended the meeting along with his brother Shivpal Yadav, Akhilesh skipped it and was instead represented by close aides such as Ram Gopal Yadav and Naresh Agrawal.

The EC will now go through representations from both sides and look into the legalities before announcing its decision. It will have to decide soon, given that the filing of nominations for the first phase of voting in Uttar Pradesh is due on Tuesday.

The first phase of polling to the 403-member state assembly will take place on 11 February and the seventh and final phase on 8 March.

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Published: 13 Jan 2017, 07:49 PM IST
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