Even as Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav announced yesterday that there's no dispute in Uttar Pradesh's ruling political outfit, he reaffirmed that he, not his son, is the party president.
"I am the national president of SP and Akhilesh is the chief minister of UP," he told reporters at his home in the national capital.
Today, both father and son are visiting the Election Commission in Delhi to stake claim to the "cycle," the election symbol of the Samajwadi Party that the senior Yadav founded 25 years ago.
However, clearly everything is not alright, like the SP supremo puts it.
On Sunday, right before his announcement, he went to the Samajwadi Party headquarters with his younger brother Shivpal and locked all the rooms that had been occupied by his son and chief minister Akhilesh Yadav's supporters, reports The Telegraph.
According to the report, he took half an hour to lock all the rooms. He took the keys of the rooms before leaving.
After he left, members of Akhilesh's camp visited the office for just 20 minutes. However, they made no attempt to enter the locked rooms.
That's not all.
Mulayam's aides reportedly replaced state president (Akhilesh faction) Naresh Uttam's nameplate with Shivpal's.
Last Sunday, chief minister Akhilesh had unseated Mulayam and Shivpal, and suspended Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh from the party. He later appointed Naresh Uttam as Samajwadi state president.
Uttam and his supporters had reportedly barged into the party office and replaced Shivpal's nameplate with his.
After his nameplate was replaced, Uttam arrived around 11.30am, sat on a chair on the grounds for about 20 minutes and then, left.
However, if Mulayam is to be believed, 'All's well in the party.'
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