Akhilesh Yadav triumphs in SP symbol war: Why EC didn’t give the cycle to Mulayam

Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav’s refusal to submit documents to the Election Commission to substantiate his claims of being the party leader with legislative support may well have been the reason for tipping the balance in favour of his chief minister son Akhilesh Yadav.

The commission, while deciding that the faction led by Akhilesh was the real SP, noted that the senior Yadav, “did not file any affidavit (except his own affidavit) of any member of Parliament or State Legislature or of any delegates; nor did he make claim of any support” among members for his group, despite being directed to do so.

In contrast, the rival faction submitted affidavits of support from MLAs, MLCs, MPs and national executive members.

The poll panel also noted that both the factions were not “functioning in accordance with the party constitution in the matter of expulsions and counter expulsions”.

Read | Akhilesh gets SP symbol cycle: How it might impact Uttar Pradesh election 2017

It opted to use the 1969 split in the Congress, which saw the dispute over the symbol being resolved on the basis of majority, as a reference point to solve the SP crisis.

Both factions differed on the legality of the national convention on January 1 organised by Akhilesh-loyalist Ramgopal Yadav, with Mulayam dubbing it illegal.

The Election Commission, instead of getting into the question of constitutionality or otherwise of the convention, decided to go with the Supreme Court-backed test of majority applied by it to resolve the dispute in Congress.

Another point of disagreement was acknowledging the split in the party.

The Mulayam camp asserted there was no split in the Samajwadi Party but the rival faction said a split was apparent as Akhilesh was unanimously appointed the national president.

Read | History repeating itself? Mulayam followed Lohia, Akhilesh his father