New Delhi:
Amid the ongoing feud in the Yadav family, Samajwadi Party’s Muslim heavyweight Azam Khan on Monday said that he has always acted like a bridge. “I have always acted like a bridge. There is fog but not darkness,” said the Uttar Pradesh minister.
On the ongoing war over the party symbol Cycle, he said that it is now up to the Election Commission to decide on the issue.
“Now the ball is in Election Commission's Court and we will have to wait for its decision,” he said.
The Election Commission will give its decision on who will get to ride the coveted bi-cycle into the arena of Uttar Pradesh assembly election 2017 and who will have to walk.
On one hand, where current Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s camp claims that he has the support of 90 per cent of his party members, his father Mulayam Singh Yadav is still very much in the game.
According to sources, Mulayam is confident that he will emerge as the winner from Monday’s battle of SP. The Samajwadi Party founder and patriarch has not wavered from his plans to fight elections on all 403 seats, with or without Akhilesh, and to the void he may just introduce a new face for chief ministerial candidate – Azam Khan.
Party loyalist since early times, Khan can be Mulayam’s master stroke in elections as he can be the Muslim face of the party, preserving the traditional vote bank of SP with Mulayam camp.
Azam Khan as CM candidate is also likely to help Mulayam save the drifting of Muslim votes to Bahujan Samaj Party as Mayawati has been rigorously campaigning with that intent. BSP supremo has announced names of Muslim candidates for 97 seats out of 403.
Will the Yadav family feud change the face of UP politics for upcoming assembly elections? Will Mulayam and Akhilesh end up compromising by the end of the day? We will have to wait and watch.
