JOIN USAkhilesh okay with different poll symbol
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has asked his supporters to be ready to fight on a different symbol.
Akhilesh, according to his supporters, might launch his election campaign in the next couple of days.
“We are ready to contest on a different symbol. There is a possibility that the Election Commission may freeze the cycle symbol,” said a senior member of Akhilesh faction here on Sunday.
He exuded confidence that even without the ‘cycle’, Akhilesh would the emerge winner in the forthcoming assembly polls. “For us, Akhilesh’s face is the symbol,” the leader said.
He also said that the chief minister would launch the second leg of the election campaign shortly. “The campaign programme has been finalised,” he added. The Akhilesh group has been planning a ‘complete overhauling’ of the existing organisational set-up of the party at district level, and was in the process of identifying the supporters of the rival camp.
So far, at least four district presidents, all supporters of Shivpal Singh Yadav, have been shown the door and have been replaced by Akhilesh supporters.
The changes at the district level have created a piquant situation before the SP workers and leaders. At some places, the office bearers of the rival factions came to blows in their bid to capture the party offices.
Reports of clashes between the rival factions have been received from Agra, Ferozabad, Mainpuri and some other districts.
SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and Shivpal visited the party headquarters on Sunday morning and locked their respective rooms within the premises before leaving for Delhi.
Sources said that Akhilesh supporters later gained control of the party headquartersthough they did not break the locks.
BJP in fix over sharing seats
The BJP finds itself in a fix in Uttar Pradesh over demands for a large number of seats from its alliance partners in the upcoming Assembly polls, DHNS reports from Lucknow.
According to sources in the BJP, the two allies — Apna Dal (AD) and Suheldev Bharat Samaj Party (SBSP) — have sought more than 50 seats.
The sources said the party was not ready to give more than a dozen seats to the two alliance partners. “We do not want to take a risk. We paid a heavy price for giving too many seats to our alliance partner in the Bihar Assembly polls,” said a senior BJP state leader here.