NEW DELHI/LUCKNOW, Jan 3 - The split in SP was today formalised, with the Akhilesh Yadav camp approaching the Election Commission (EC) to assert that the party is �actually� headed by the Chief Minister now and not its founder Mulayam Singh who had knocked at the doors of the poll panel yesterday to lay claim on �cycle� symbol.
Hours after his camp staked claim over the party and its election symbol �cycle�, Akhilesh drove to his father�s residence and was with him for nearly two hours, leading to speculation about patch-up efforts which was discounted by the Chief Minister�s camp as �too late�.
Shivpal Yadav, Mulayam�s brother who is at loggerheads with Akhilesh, also joined them after coming back from Delhi.
Leaders from the Akhilesh faction � Ramgopal Yadav, Naresh Agarwal and Kiranmoy Nanda � met the Election Commissioners this morning to stake claim over SP and its election symbol.
�The real Samajwadi Party belongs to us as 90 per cent of the people support us,� Ramgopal, who is Mulayam�s cousin and has sided with Akhilesh in the family feud, told reporters after meeting the Commission.
He was asked about what he conveyed to the Commission on the party and its symbol.
Now, with the rival factions staking claim over the party and its symbol, the ball is in the Commission�s court. Since the assembly elections to Uttar Pradesh are set to be announced any day now, the Commission has little time to adjudicate the matter.
As an interim measure, it is now likely to freeze the cycle symbol and ask the two factions to contest on a new symbol.
It may also give the two sides a new name to contest the polls till the time a final decision is taken on the real �ownership� of Samajwadi Party and its symbol �cycle�.
While Mulayam, who was in Delhi since yesterday afternoon, returned to Lucknow, his close confidant Mohd Azam Khan reached the national capital and said he would do what he can to bring about a rapprochement. � PTI