Samajwadi Party set for split? Akhilesh declares his own list of candidates

Announces a list of 235 candidates aside from the official list of 325 announced by Mulayam earlier

In an open rebellion that could split the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP), Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday night "declared" his own candidates for 235 seats, aside from the official list announced by his father and SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav for the coming Assembly polls.

The list of names was made available on social media by party MLAs who failed to get tickets in the official list on Wednesday.

Prominent among those figuring on Akhilesh Yadav's list are ministers Arvind Singh Gope, Pawan Pandey and Ram Govind Chaudhary, all hardcore Akhilesh loyalists but denied tickets by Mulayam.

The candidates were "declared" hours after Akhilesh held a meeting with his loyalists, including MLAs left out of the list of 325 announced by Mulayam on Wednesday. The Uttar Pradesh Assembly has 403 seats.

Akhilesh has been unhappy over Mulayam's candidates, which included certain names against whose nomination the chief minister had strong reservations.

Mulayam, along with his brother and state party unit chief Shivpal Yadav, had announced the names at a hurriedly convened press conference in Lucknow on Wednesday when Akhilesh was away on a tour of Bundelkhand.