There is "no question" of a split in the Samajwadi Party, according to party president Mulayam Singh Yadav. "The party is one and will begin campaign shortly," he said to ANI on Monday. "Akhilesh will be chief minister after elections."
#WATCH Akhilesh Yadav will be the Chief Minister after the elections.No question of the party splitting:Mulayam Singh Yadav to ANI pic.twitter.com/Kosj5ZFwwc
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) January 9, 2017
Yadav's statement comes on a day when both he and his son are staking a claim on the bicycle symbol of the Samajwadi Party. While Yadav senior has written to the Rajya Sabha chairman informing him of Akhilesh's right-hand man Ram Gopal Yadav's expulsion from the party, Ram Gopal has also approached the EC from Akhilesh's side urging it to take an "early decision" on the cycle symbol.
While Mulayam Singh has reiterated that he was the party president and SP was united, Akhilesh's response to this has been cold. With father and son seemingly battling it out over the party symbol, mostly a fallout of bitter differences on candidates chosen for contesting the upcoming state elections, a split seems to be imminent.
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