'It's more than a poll symbol for Netaji'

LUCKNOW: As the battle for SP symbol intensified on Monday, TOI takes a look at how the cycle catapulted the political careers of Mulayam & Akhilesh
Even with his fleet of cars, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav never hesitated to undertake his cycle yatras during the early 1990s and that is what established his `dharti putra' (son of soil) character.
“When a two-day convention was held in November 2 ,1992 to announce formation of Samajwadi Party after breaking away from Chandra Shekhar, I had proposed bicycle for party symbol,“ recalls former Union minister and now Rajya Sabha member of the SP, Beni Prasad Verma, talking to TOI and adding that later the party got the election symbol allotted by the Election Commission.
Verma added that since most leaders, including Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mohan Singh, Bhagwati Singh and others had come from humble economic backgrounds and faced social hardships, the party was unanimous in choos ing the bicycle as it is the car rier of the poor and vulnerable.
In the early 90s, Mulayam often undertook cycle yatras, meandering through villages and towns and interacted with the masses to reach his message to them. “For Mulayam Singh Yadav, bicycle is not merely an election symbol, he has an emotional connect with it since his youth and later on, when he bought a second-hand jeep, he gave his bicycle to his younger brother Shiv pal Yadav,“ says an SP veteran “In those days, when Netaji would be out of Etawah, I would use that cycle and along with my friends we would tour the Jas want Nagar constitu ency on bicycles,“ recalls Shivpal.