<p>The Election Commission (EC) will on Friday hear arguments of both the rival factions of the Samajwadi Party (SP) before deciding on their claim and counter-claim on the party’s poll-symbol ‘bicycle’.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The EC sent notices to both the factions — one led by party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and another by his son and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav — to appear before it for a hearing on Friday, a spokesperson of the poll panel said.<br /><br />Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi and Election Commissioners O P Rawat and A K Joti will hear the arguments.<br /><br />The feud within the first family of the party reached the EC early this month when both factions staked claim to the party’s poll symbol.<br /><br />Mulayam, who founded the Samajwadi Party 25 years ago, was removed from the post of the party president in a convention called by his brother and party general secretary Ram Gopal in Lucknow on January 1. <br /><br />He was replaced by Akhilesh. The party patriarch, however, was given the role of the mentor. <br /><br />Mulayam called the convention illegal and convened another meet on January 5. He, however, later called off the January 5 meeting.</p>
<p>The Election Commission (EC) will on Friday hear arguments of both the rival factions of the Samajwadi Party (SP) before deciding on their claim and counter-claim on the party’s poll-symbol ‘bicycle’.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The EC sent notices to both the factions — one led by party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and another by his son and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav — to appear before it for a hearing on Friday, a spokesperson of the poll panel said.<br /><br />Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi and Election Commissioners O P Rawat and A K Joti will hear the arguments.<br /><br />The feud within the first family of the party reached the EC early this month when both factions staked claim to the party’s poll symbol.<br /><br />Mulayam, who founded the Samajwadi Party 25 years ago, was removed from the post of the party president in a convention called by his brother and party general secretary Ram Gopal in Lucknow on January 1. <br /><br />He was replaced by Akhilesh. The party patriarch, however, was given the role of the mentor. <br /><br />Mulayam called the convention illegal and convened another meet on January 5. He, however, later called off the January 5 meeting.</p>
