War over 'cycle': Mulayam to meet EC to stake claim on party symbol

Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Monday will meet the Election Commission (EC) today to stake a claim on party's poll symbol 'cycle' and will also urge them to check the authenticity and legality of papers submitted by Ramgopal Yadav on the same.

Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav camp represented by Ram Gopal Yadav on Saturday submitted an affidavit mentioning the Samajwadi Party leaders supporting the former's faction in a bid to buttress its claim over the Samajwadi Party's 'cycle' symbol ahead of Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

Ramgopal said that the relevant documents, brought in "seven cartons with more than 1.5 lakh pages", were submitted to the poll panel to assert Akhilesh's right over the party name and symbol.

He said that he submitted affidavits of 4,716 delegates of the total 5,731, indicating overwhelming support for Akhilesh.

The Election Commission had given both sides time till January 9 to submit proof of their legislative support.

However, if the Election Commission cannot reach any decision before January 17, then the party symbol might also be frozen and two different symbols would be provide to the parties for contesting the assembly elections.

The assembly elections in the most populous and politically significant state in India will be held in seven phases between 11 February and 8 March.