The Election Commission of India (ECI) will soon take a view based on precedents and set principles on the dispute over the ‘cycle’ poll symbol, on which both the Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav factions in the Samajwadi Party have staked claims.
Responding to queries pertaining to the dispute over the ‘cycle’ poll symbol, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi on Wednesday said that the Election Commission will take a call after examining the claims by two factions.
“The Commission, as per the symbol order, while keeping in mind precedents and set principles followed till now, will examine the documents before us and will take an appropriate decision at the right time,” said Zaidi.
The two factions-one headed by SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and the other by his son Akhilesh Yadav-have staked claim on the party's poll symbol and have presented their case before the Election Commission.
Zaidi said in the last two-three days, the EC has received representations-one from Mulayam Singh Yadav and the other from Ram Gopal Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav. last evening, a detailed document was presented by Ram Gopal Yadav.
Sources in the Commission said it will follow paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 to proceed on the dispute. It gives power to the Commission “in relation to splinter groups or rival sections of a recognised political party”.
The factional war in the ruling party of UP reached the Election Commission a day after Mulayam was deposed from the post of the party president by the group headed by his son Akhilesh.
The split in SP was formalised with the Akhilesh camp approaching the EC to assert the party is "actually" headed by the Chief Minister now and not its founder Mulayam, who had knocked the doors of the poll panel a day before to lay claim on ‘cycle’ symbol.
The ball is now in the Commission's court. As an interim measure, the poll panel may freeze the cycle symbol and ask the two factions to contest on new symbols. It may also give the two sides a new name to contest the polls till the time a final decision is taken on the real 'ownership' of Samajwadi Party and its symbol 'cycle', sources said.