The Samajwadi Party senior Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav’s refusal for submitting documents to the Election Commission to prove his party leadership worked in the favor of his son and CM Akhilesh Yadav and earned him the party symbol. Akhilesh thus would be legally able to use the cycle symbol in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The EC while considering the claims of the father and son decided that the team led by Akhilesh Yadav will be the real Samajwadi Party and said that Mulayam “did not file any affidavit (except his own affidavit) of any member of Parliament or State Legislature or of any delegates; nor did he make claim of any support” even after being asked to do so. Whereas his son has submitted affidavits of MLAs, MLCs, MPs and also national executives.
The commission also issued that both son and father duo were not “functioning in accordance with the party constitution in the matter of expulsions and counter expulsions.” They also said that instead of questioning the constitutionality or the convention decided to approach the Supreme Court. Also another issue the EC was not content with the split in the party. While the Mulayam supporters asserted that there was no split in the party, it was evident as Akhilesh Yadav was unanimously selected as the national SP president.
