The Election Commission on Friday reserved its order on the Samajwadi Party symbol dispute following an over four-hour-long hearing of the two factions. Mulayam Singh said there was no split in the party and so, the Commission lacked the jurisdiction to decide on the issue, while the Akhilesh group argued that the majority in the party’s organisational and legislative structures was with the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister.
Represented by senior lawyers Rajeev Dhavan and Kapil Sibal, the Akhilesh faction submitted that whichever group had the numerical majority would have the party symbol, as also upheld by the Supreme Court, and that the Chief Minister had the support of a majority of the party’s legislators and delegates.
Speaking to the media, after the hearing concluded, Mr. Dhavan said neither side argued about, or wanted, freezing of the symbol.
The Akhilesh faction has urged the EC to settle the issue at the earliest, as the nomination process in Uttar Pradesh starts on January 17. The Commission may issue an interim order in case the matter is not decided soon.
Post-lunch, the Commission heard the arguments of Mr. Mulayam Singh, who was present along with his brother Shivpal Yadav, and represented by senior advocate and former Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran.
Mr. Parasaran argued that the Election Commission lacked jurisdiction to allocate the symbol to one of the factions as there was no split in the party such as SP (Mulayam) and SP (Akhilesh) and there was no splinter group. He also said the meeting called by Ramgopal Yadav on January 1, in which Mr. Akhilesh was elected Samajwadi Party president, was not in accordance with the party’s constitution and therefore, was illegal and unauthorised.
