Mulayam Singh Yadav

In addition, the party has fielded Mulayam Singh's nephew Dharmender Singh from the Badaun parliamentary seat, which he has won thrice in the previous polls.

Archana Shukla gets a ground report from Mulayam Singh and his brother Shivpal Yadav's constituencies in Etawah district.

Sources said that Shivpal Yadav – who led a bitter faction fight against Akhilesh – may not be contesting in the assembly polls slated to begin on February 4. According to the compromise reached, Akhilesh will accommodate Shivpal‘s son Aditya Yadav in the final SP list.

The group led by Akhilesh Yadav is the Samajwadi Party and is entitled to use its name and reserved symbol Bicycle, the three-member Election Commission headed by Nasim Zaidi said in its order.

Mulayam made this statement at a meeting with party workers in Lucknow with the media in attendance.

The development comes after Akhilesh Yadav is made party's national President in a bitter feud between two warring factions.

Both Ramgopal and Akhilesh have been asked by Mulayam to send a showcause notice as to why they released a separate list of candidates against the party's official list ahead of Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls and why action should not be taken against them.

Most notably, Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav did not feature in this list. Mulayam also announced the name of his brother Shivpal Yadav from Jaswant Nagar Assembly seat.

The contentious issue of ticket distribution today again exposed the rift in Samajwadi Party with state party chief Shivpal Yadav attacking Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav over his reported parallel list of candidates.

The SP supremo said the party was facing a difficult situation and party members should not fight with each other but his words had little effect as chaos broke out at the venue and heated words were exchanged on the dais leading to an abrupt end of the meeting.

Police and security officials had a tough time dispersing the unruly mobs. The clash comes ahead of the crucial meeting called by SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav to take a "final call" on the bitter turf war within his family and the party.

On the first day of the proceeding of the Monsoon session of Parliament, Rajya Sabha faced three back-to-back adjournments after Opposition created uproar seeking Sushma's resignation in the row over alleged links with former Indian Premier League chief Lalit Modi.

Local factors usually play a big role in the by-poll results. Since it has suffered a big jolt in both Rajasthan and Gujarat, the BJP can't attribute the SP victory in UP to state government in power. Some analysts claim that the communal polarisation of voters has backfired in UP.

An amalgamation of 11 political parties, the Third Front on Tuesday claimed that India was not a two-party nation and people were willing to try out an alternative.

Mulayam Singh Yadav met Manmohan Singh in Delhi on Thursday to express his reservation against the Food Bill Ordinance, and that his party will not support the ordinance in Parliament until his reservations are addressed.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Prabhu Chawla, Editorial Director of New Indian Express spoke about the current political uncertainty and where things are headed in terms of an early election.

When Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav stated that days of one-party rule were over and future belonged to coalition government, it sparked nationwide debate on a possibility of early polls.

After the DMK pullout, the Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has signalled at pulling the plug soon on the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. SP sources said Mulayam has made up his mind that he wants an early election in 2013.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Indian Express editor in-chief Shekhar Gupta believes chances of an early poll is minimal.

The debate on foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail began in Parliament on Tuesday with the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and the Opposition attacking each other.