EC notice to Mulayam, Akhilesh; says ‘prove number of supporters via affidavit’

New Delhi: The Samajwadi Party tussle has escalated. Both father Mulayam Singh Yadav and son Akhilesh have received affidavits from Election Commission to list the number of MLAs and MPs who are supporting them. LATEST UPDATES:

• Election Commission has sought a reply from both Mulayam and Akhilesh by January 9. Both camps have also been sent those documents which submitted to Election Commission

 

• After Election Commission on Wednesday made the announcement on polling dates, Akhilesh said, that “we would return again and would see where to put bolts and where to use handcuffs”

 

• Mulayam has received another shocker. Akhilesh camp has appointed new regional heads in most of the districts and all of them have been asked to get started with the preparations of elections

  The Samajwadi Party tussle escalated after Mulayam Singh Yadav sent his aide Amar Singh to Election Commission with a memorandum stating that the Party meet that was held by Ram Gopal Yadav on January 1 was unconstitutional. On the other hand Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday morning called a meeting of his MLAs at his residence at 5 Kalidas Marg. Samajwadi Party leaders today made eleventh hour efforts to restore peace in the ruling party with Azam Khan taking the lead, meeting party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav separately but failed to make any headway. The efforts were unlikely to yield any positive result as SP National General Secretary Ramgopal Yadav ruled out any chance of "patch up" and trashed reports of such a move as "rumours". Hours before the Election Commission announced the polls schedule for Uttar Pradesh Assembly, the urgency to broker peace appeared palpable in the faction-ridden party so that the vertical split in the organisation does not create confusion among voters as to which was the real SP.