From Mulayam to Rajnath, here are the names who will dominate UP polls

Mulayam Singh Yadav is the president of the ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Paradesh and three-time chief minister of the state. A Lok Sabha MP from Azamgarh, Mulayam formed the Samajwadi Party in 1992. He became the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh for the first time in 1989. Mulayam has two wives and current chief minister Akhilesh is his son from his first wife Malti. Mulayam is currently embroiled in a family feud with Akhilesh which threatens to split the Samajwadi Party. (PTI photo)

Akhilesh is the 20th and the current chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. He took the oath as the youngest chief minister of UP after his Samajwadi Party won the Assembly elections in 2012. An engineer, Akhilesh married Dimple in 1999 and has two daughters and a son. In an ongoing feud with his father Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhikesh is supported by one of his uncles, Ram Gopal Yadav. His other uncle and Shivpal and Mulayam's friend Amar Singh have formed the other warring faction and have been fighting over SP's election symbol. Both parties have approached the Election Commission for a final decision. (PTI photo)

Shivpal is the younger brother of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and member of Uttar Pradesh Assembly from Jaswantnagar. A staunch follower of Ram Manohar Lohia, Shivpal joined his brother Mulayam in his political journey and soon became an integral part of the Samajwadi Party. (TOI photo)

Chief of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Mayawati is a Dalit icon. She was born in 1956 and joined politics in 1984 after completing her LLB. The leader who introduced her to politics was Kanshi Ram, another Dalit stalwart and founder of the BSP. She was first elected to Parliament in 1989. She was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh four times. She stepped down after losing the UP elections to Samajwadi Party in 2012. Mayawati is currently a Member of the Rajya Sabha. (PTI photo)

Satish Chandra Mishra is the Brahmin face of Dalit icon Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). A lawyer by profession, he is considered as the eyes and ears of Mayawati. He is now the general secretary of the BSP. Mishra is a Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh. (TOI photo)

Rajnath Singh is the Union Home Minister and probably BJP's tallest leader in Uttar Pradesh. A former UP chief minister, Rajnath is the only mass leader from BJP who is a feasible option against BSP chief Mayawati and Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav. He has been associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and entered politics at a very young age. Rajnath has also served as the national president of BJP. He was the last BJP chief minister in Uttar Pradesh in 2002. (PTI photo)

President of the Uttar Pradesh unit of the BJP, Keshav Prasad Maurya is a member of Parliament from Phulpur. He has been associated with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and RSS. He also participated in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. Maurya's association with RSS and VHP is the reason why he is considered the Hindu face of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh. (PTI photo)