SP's 'cycle' symbol may be frozen: Former CEC

NEW DELHI: With the Samajwadi Party split, neither faction may get the 'cycle' symbol ahead of the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, former Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi said on Monday. "Both sides will give affidavits and evidence in support of their claims along with signatures of their supporters to prove they enjoy majority support," Quraishi told India Today TV channel. "These will be verified and this may take four to five months," he added. "I don't see this happening before the elections as both sides have strong base and the claims will be contested strongly. "The (election) symbol will be frozen and ad-hoc names and ad-hoc symbols may be given to both sides. A final decision will come after due process in due course of time," he added. Today, Mulayam singh, accompanied by Amar Singh and Jaya Prada, met the Election Commission of India in Delhi to stake the claim for SP’s election symbol ‘cycle’ and tell that his faction is the actual Samajwadi Party. The Akhilesh faction will send party national General-Secretary-turned-mentor Ramgopal Yadav as its emissary to the poll panel tomorrow. The party founder would be accompanied by loyal younger brother Shivpal Singh Yadav and Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh, who returned mid-way from his New Year family vacation in London. Before leaving from here for Delhi, Mulayam Singh told the media that the party belonged to him as he enjoyed the support of the people of India’s most populous state. At an emergency national convention on Sunday, Akhilesh upstaged his father as the party chief and appointed himself as the Working National President. He also replaced state unit chief Shivpal Yadav with his loyalist and legislative council member Naresh Uttam. The convention, declared illegal and unconstitutional by Mulayam Singh, also expelled Amar Singh from the party.