Akhilesh Yadav new chief of Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh

October 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Election Commission Monday announced that bye-elections to Firozabad Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh and 31 assembly seats in seven states will be held Nov 7. The assembly bypolls will be held for 11 seats in Uttar Pradesh, 10 in West Bengal, three seats in Kerala, two each in Rajasthan, Assam, and Himachal Pradesh and one seat in Chhattisgarh.

October 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav will on Sunday launch the campaign for his daughter-in-law for the by-election to the Ferozabad Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh, where she has been pitted against Bollywood veteran Raj Babbar of the Congress. Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) will reach Ferozabad on Oct 4 to start the campaign for the by-poll, Rajya Sabha MP of Samajwadi Party Kamal Akhter told IANS.

September 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Samajwadi Party Wednesday said it would field Dimple Yadav, daughter-in-law of party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, in the Lok Sabha by-election in Uttar Pradesh's Ferozabad constituency. Samajwadi Party general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav made this announcement here.

June 14th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Adopting a softer stand on the women's reservation bill, Samajwadi Party MP and Uttar Pradesh state unit chief Akhilesh Yadav Sunday said his party could support the move if the reservation is brought down to 25 from 33 percent. "The percentage should be decreased from 33 to 25.

June 3rd, 2009 LUCKNOW - Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav on Wednesday appointed his son Akhilesh Yadav as the president of the party's Uttar Pradesh unit. Party general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav said Kannauj MP Akhilesh replaces Mulayam's brother Shivpal Singh Yadav.

June 3rd, 2009 LUCKNOW - The Samajwadi Party (SP) Wednesday named party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's son Akhilesh Yadav as its Uttar Pradesh unit president -- apparently taking the cue from the trend set by certain national political parties to entrust greater responsibility to the youth. Mulayam Singh Yadav's cousin and SP national general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav, the party's leader in the Rajya Sabha, made the announcement in New Delhi.

May 16th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Samajwadi Party's (SP) youth wing chief Akhilesh Yadav was trailing in Uttar Pradesh's Kannauj constituency but leading in Firozabad two hours after counting began at 8 a.m. Akhilesh, the son of SP chief and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, had won from Kannauj in the 2004 elections.

May 7th, 2009 MAINPURI - Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Thursday said his party would extend support whoever dismisses the Mayawati Government in Uttar Pradesh. After casting his vote, Mulayam said, "The youth, farmers and traders, all are disheartened with the Uttar Pradesh Government.

March 29th, 2009 GHAZIABAD - Former Uttar Pradesh chief secretary Neera Yadav Sunday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) here along with her husband former state minister Mahendra Singh Yadav and about 250 Samajwadi Party workers. Neera Yadav joined the party at a rally in Vaishali here in the presence of BJP president Raj Nath Singh.

March 8th, 2009 AGRA - The Firozabad Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh could prove a tough proposition for Akhilesh Yadav, son of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav. Not only is he up against heavyweights but is also contesting at a time when voters in the glassware and bangle manufacturing hub have been hard hit by recession.

March 8th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav Sunday said no alliance has been finalised with the Congress but stressed that there is 'no dispute' between the two parties as well. 'We want to contest the elections with them (Congress).

February 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Samajwadi Party Friday said the final decision on any pre-poll alliance with the Congress in Uttar Pradesh would be made in two days. 'The final picture of the proposed alliance with the Congress would emerge in two days,' Samajwadi Party general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav told reporters.

February 7th, 2009 BHOPAL - Miffed over the growing proximity of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav to rebel Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kalyan Singh, over two dozen Samajwadi activists quit the party in Madhya Pradesh Sunday. The resignations come a day after former state president Narayan Tripathi resigned from the party's primary membership, saying the party's secular credentials have been put at stake with Mulayam Singh getting closer to Kalyan Singh who was involved in the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992.

January 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav Tuesday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to remove 'hurdles' in the way of an alliance between his party and the Congress for the Lok Sabha election. 'I have hopes in Manmohan Singh and (Congress president) Sonia Gandhi to reach a consensus for the alliance in Uttar Pradesh,' Yadav told reporters after meeting the prime minister.

January 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Samajwadi Party Tuesday accused Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh of creating hurdles in the formation of a pre-poll alliance in Uttar Pradesh for the general elections. Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav told reporters that his party was willing to support the Congress despite various differences but Digvijay Singh was creating one problem or the other.