LUCKNOW: When Samajwadi Party organises its annual national convention in September, it will be the first one with Akhilesh Yadav as party president.The announcement comes after a meeting chaired by party chief Akhilesh Yadav and his chief strategist MP Ram Gopal Yadav was held in Lucknow on Saturday.This was perhaps the first party meeting that senior leader Ram Gopal had attended in Lucknow after Akhilesh become the SP chief at the party's emergency convention held on January 1, replacing his father and party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. Mulayam had later accused Ram Gopal as the man behind the battle for power within the SP. Party MLA and Akhilesh's uncle Shivpal Yadav , who had openly supported BJP nominee Ram Nath Kovind 's candidature in the recently concluded presidential elections while the party rallied behind Meira Kumar , was not present at the meeting.Though senior party leaders who attended the review meeting denied that the issue of cross-voting during presidential elections was on the agenda of Saturday's meeting, sources said it was discussed by senior leaders. There were reports that Kovind got 11 additional votes from UP, confirming that Opposition members had voted for Kovind who eventually won."The national convention is an annual affair and has to be held before October 8 as per the party's constitution. It has been decided that the convention will be held in September. Along the same time, the state and district level conventions will also be held," said chief spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary. He said the meeting was primarily held to review the membership drive launched in April

Stay updated with all the Lucknow Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.