There is something about bicycles. Not only are they an environmentalist's delight, but they are also a much-sought-after election symbol. On Monday last, the Election Commission of India allotted the bicycle symbol to the group led by the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav. The feud between father and son, Mulayam Singh Yadav and his offspring, had threatened to destabilize the future of the Samajwadi Party, in spite of being rather comically reminiscent of the epics. This is not the first time that factions in a political party clashed over the ownership of the bicycle. In 1995, N. Chandrababu Naidu, now the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, rebelled against his father-in-law and the founder of the Telugu Desam Party, N.T. Rama Rao. The TDP's poll symbol is the bicycle too. In UP, the EC decided in favour of the chief minister as he submitted documentary evidence to prove his majority among the elected representatives of the party. The EC based its ruling on paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968. The decision was arrived at by a test of majority, as approved by the apex court. In effect, though, this is a victory of the new over the old.

It now seems that Mulayam Singh Yadav has reconciled himself to the fact that his son is the new boss of the Samajwadi Party. He has sent a list with only 38 names to his son, and requested the latter to accommodate his father's choices in the party's candidate list for the forthcoming assembly elections. Apart from elevating the stature of the chief minister, the EC's verdict has brightened the prospects of a Bihar-style mahagatbandhan in UP; seat-sharing talks between the Samajwadi Party, the Congress and the Rashtriya Lok Dal are in full swing. This may not be the best news for the Bahujan Samaj Party. After a period in the shadows, Mayavati had been rebuilding her forces for a while. She was helped by the Dalit uprising in Gujarat: a new unity among the Dalits could go in her favour. Certainly the party had seized upon this with gusto in its poll campaign. The explosive quarrel between father and son in the Samajwadi Party helped too, so much so that the BSP leader had said that the Bharatiya Janata Party could be defeated only by voting for her party. That statement may have to be rephrased a bit. It will depend on how far the cycle can go, with a little help from friends.