 | | Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh leave their home in Lucknow on Tuesday. (AP) | Lucknow, March 6: The Samajwadi Party will decide tomorrow who, Mulayam Singh Yadav or son Akhilesh, will head the party's government. Senior leaders held a series of meetings after today's win and resolved that the party's parliamentary board, its highest decision-making body, would meet tomorrow morning to take a decision. Chief minister Mayawati watched the scenes of the Bahujan Samaj Party's rout unfold on TV at her home, sources said, but neither she nor any of her party leaders issued a statement conceding defeat. Till late this evening, she had not met governor B.L. Joshi to submit her resignation. Word about tomorrow's Samajwadi meeting came from Akhilesh himself, the state party chief, the campaign mascot and the man many in the party were rooting for as chief minister. Given the huge mandate, there is growing pressure on party seniors to give Akhilesh the top job, more so as he had led the campaign. But the 39-year-old sought to play down the clamour and suggested his father was the "unanimous" choice. "There is a near consensus on Mulayam Singh Yadav. We will all propose in tomorrow's meeting that he should become chief minister for the fourth time," Akhilesh told a media conference this evening. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today called up both father and son to congratulate them on the Samjwadi's win. He also greeted the BJP's Manohar Parrikar in Goa and the Congress's Ibobi Singh in Manipur. Samajwadi insiders explained the emphasis on the "fourth time". If Mulayam does begin a new innings, it would put him on a par with Mayawati who had become chief minister the fourth time in 2007. Whether Mulayam heads to his fourth coronation or Akhilesh to his first, it was celebration time for the Samajwadis as their party came out with flying colours. Faces smeared in green gulal (the colour of the party flag), workers and supporters brought Holi two days earlier to the Samajwadi office here on Vikramaditya Road, dancing away in the middle of crackers that seemed to go off without a break. In stark contrast, the fortress-like office of the BSP on upscale Mall Road was locked till noon and few workers and leaders could be seen around the place. In her official residence a few furlongs away, the chief minister watched as her candidates bit the dust one after the other. She reportedly told aides later that she would tender her resignation. But till late tonight, sources in the Raj Bhavan said no appointment had been sought. Cabinet secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh met the chief minister at home, and the two held hour-long talks till around 3pm. But key aide Satish Mishra — the BSP's Brahmin face in its 2007 triumph and a senior lawyer — was not by the chief minister's side as images of the BSP's debacle were beamed on TV. Sources said Mayawati wanted to consult Mishra on the constitutional formalities of handing over her resignation and could quit tomorrow. The suspense was heightened by the failure of the chief minister and her party leaders to acknowledge defeat, unlike leaders of other parties who spoke to the media. Akhilesh, who led Samajwadi to a win that has dwarfed the BSP's performance in 2007, sermonised about how his party had "learnt to take the cycles of defeat and victory in its stride". "Today, we have pulled off a victory. Last time, (2007) we lost. But we felt the defeat too needed to be acknowledged with the proper spirit and due humility," he told the media conference, prompting many to wonder if it was a veiled dig at his vanquished adversary. Asked if the statues of Mayawati and the memorials she built would be razed, as Mulayam had earlier threatened, Akhilesh said: "We are not going to remove the statues of Mayawati and those of the elephants (the BSP symbol). However, as the party chief (Mulayam) had suggested, there are plenty of open spaces (at the memorials) and hospitals may be built there." Amar Singh, who was booted out of the Samajwadi Party by Akhilesh, failed to register his presence. His Rashtriya Lok Manch fought 360 seats but did not win a single one. The Samajwadi scion listed his party's priorities, saying implementing the manifesto — peppered with sops for students and weaker sections — would top the agenda. "Our top priority would be to implement the manifesto. I hope this will pave the way for development in the state." To a question about fears that Samajwadi leaders would patronise criminals, like they allegedly had in its earlier stints in power, Akhilesh said: "Let me assure the people of Uttar Pradesh that anyone who is found to be on the wrong side of the law would be sternly dealt with." | 
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