Climax in battle for poll symbol today

A day before the Election Commission’s hearing on claims over the ‘cycle’ symbol in the Samajwadi party, rival factions are bracing up for fighting polls under a new symbol.

A source in Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav camp said that SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav may withdraw his claim over the ‘cycle’ symbol at the last moment.

Mulayam and his younger brother Shivpal Yadav are camping in the national capital since Wednesday night, but only a handful of old party cadres went to meet the SP patriarch.

On behalf of the Akhilesh camp, Ramgopal Yadav submitted an affidavit to the commission claiming that the chief minister is the new national president of the party, hence he should have the authority to distribute the party symbol.

In a counter-affidavit, Mulayam told the commission that the convention called to elect Akhilesh was illegal because the person, Ramgopal Yadav, who called the convention, was not a member of the party.

Mulayam’s affidavit states that Ramgopal was expelled from the party two days before the convention.

Mulayam claimed that he is the national president of the party, Akhilesh is the chief minister and Shivpal the state unit chief. Ramgopal is also believed to have proposed the ‘motorcycle’ symbol for the Akhilesh faction with an idea to project “development” as the poll plank.