UP Elections 2017: Akhilesh Yadav Wins Cycle. Coming Soon, Grand Alliance With Congress

NDTV| Jan 16,2017 NEW DELHI: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, recognised as the leader of the Samajwadi Party and granted its cycle symbol by the Election Commission today, will now swiftly move to finalise candidates in the next two days for the Uttar Pradesh elections, a senior leaders of the party said. He is also expected to announce a Bihar-style "Grand Alliance" with the Congress and several smaller parties like Ait Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal or RLD. This evening, the Election Commission rejected the claim of Akhilesh's father Mulayam Singh Yadav, who founded the party 25 years ago, saying "the group led by Akhilesh Yadav is the Samajwadi Party" and so gets the symbol. Mulayam Singh said earlier today that he will "abide" by the Election Commission's verdict and is ready to fight the faction led by his son, after his attempts to stop a split of the party failed. Mulayam Singh Yadav's faction will now have to pick a new symbol, to contest the UP elections, which are now less than a month away - nominations for the first phase begin tomorrow. Mulayam Singh had stoutly insisted that the Samajwadi Party has not split - refusing to acknowledge the coup his son staged earlier this month when his supporters in the party - an overwhelming majority - declared the Chief Minister party president in place of his father. In the alliance that Akhilesh Yadav plans, the Samajwadi Party is likely to contest about 300 of UP's 403 assembly seats, while the Congress could contest about 75, and the RLD and other parties could contest 25-30. It follows the Bihar experiment, where Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was re-elected after strategically partnering with old rival Lalu Yadav's RJD and the Congress. Mulayam Singh had pulled the Samajwadi Party out of the Bihar alliance at the last minute and has made it clear that he is dead against partnering with any party for the Uttar Pradesh elections. Akhilesh Yadav has favoured an alliance with the Congress all along, repeatedly assessing that such a combination can win over 300 seats in UP, where the BJP and Mayawati's BSP will give the Chief Minister a tough fight. Elections in UP will be held in seven phases starting February 11. Votes will be counted on March 11.