Mulayam Singh Yadav (1939-2022): Farewell to frontrunner of Samajwadi Party

Mulayam Singh Yadav Passes Away: Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav passed away on Monday. He was 82-years-old. He had been battling ill health for some time, and been under treatment in Gurugram’s Medanta Hospital since August 22.

He was admitted to the hospital on October 2, and shifted to the hospital's ICU when his condition worsened. Mulayam Singh Yadav was known both for his ability to sense the direction in which the proverbial political wind was blowing, and for the nonchalance with which he switched political partners. His political graph of over 50-years was punctuated with as many rises as falls. 

 
Mulayam Singh Yadav: Education 

The three-time chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and the founder of the Samajwadi Party was born in a poor farmer's family on November 22, 1939. Born to Sughar Singh and Murti Devi in Saifai village of Etawah district in Uttar Pradesh, Mulayam Singh Yadav had three degrees in political science — a B.A. degree from Karm Kshetra Post Graduate College in Etawah, a B.T. from A. K. College in Shikohabad, and an M.A. from B.R. College, Agra University.  

Mulayam Singh Yadav: Political Rise 

As a youngster, Mulayam Singh Yadav was an avid wrestler. He was very inspired by the principles and ideologies of socialist Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya at an early age, and played an active part in student politics during his college days. Although he was a trained teacher, his popularity in the akhara, the influence of Ram Manohar Lohiya, and his stint in student politics eventually took him towards a career in politics.  

He took his first step in active politics in 1967, when he became an MLA from Jaswantnagar Assembly seat in Uttar Pradesh’s Etawah district. From 1967 he remained Jaswantnagar MLA till 1969. After this he won several elections from the same constituency and served as its MLA between 1974-1977, 1977-1980, 1985-1989, 1989-1991, 1991-1993, and 1993-1996.  

He also was chosen to the UP Assembly from Sahaswan in 1996, but he resigned soon after. Mulayam Singh Yadav first became the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1989 and remained in office till 1991. His second tenure as Uttar Pradesh chief minister was between 1993 and 1995. His third and last term as UP CM came between 2003 and 2007 — this coincided with his 9th term as an MLA, this time from Gunnaur. He bagged the seat in 2004 by-polls, and he remained the MLA of Gunnaur till 2007. His last term as an MLA — from 2007 to 2009 — was also from the Gunnaur Assembly seat. 

Mulayam Singh Yadav: In National Politics 

Apart from the three terms as CM (1989 to 1991, 1993 to 1995 and 2003 to 2007), Mulayam Singh Yadav also served as the Union Defence Minister of India from 1996 to 1998 under the United Front Government led by HD Deve Gowda after he was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1996.  Some believe that he harboured dreams of becoming the prime minister, but that never came to fruition. From 2019 onwards, Mulayam Singh Yadav has been serving as the Member of Parliament from Uttar Pradesh’s Mainpuri constituency. 

 
Mulayam Singh Yadav: Samajwadi Party and Fluctuating Fortunes 

“Our only aim is humanity and justice.” After being a part of Lok Dal (People’s Party) and Janata Dal (People’s Party) and Janata Dal (Socialist), Mulayam Singh Yadav founded the Samajwadi Party in 1992 – a party that, in his own words, was a vehicle for the downtrodden and neglected sections of society. In the early 1990s, both state and national politics revolved around the Ayodhya-Babri Masjid issue. In such a backdrop, Mulayam quickly became a polarising figure for his role as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh after police fired upon karsevaks in two incidents in Ayodhya in the year 1990, leading to several deaths. 

Mulayam Singh Yadav was never opposed to allying with any party, even if it meant breaking other alliances of SP. Samajwadi Party’s secular credentials always aligned with the Congress —  Mulayam had Congress’ support in first stint as CM of Uttar Pradesh, but the alliance didn’t last long then. After the fall of Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s 13-day-long government, Mulayam opposed Sonia Gandhi’s candidature for the prime minister’s seat in 1996, calling her a ‘videshi’. Congress party also refused to support Mulayam in its bid to form a government in UP after SP emerged as the largest party following 2002 elections.  

Diametrically opposite forces — Mulayam’s Samajwadi Party and Kanshi Ram’s Bahujan Samaj Party — were part of a ruling alliance in Uttar Pradesh from 1993 to 1995. However, the coalition partners could not mend their ideological differences and the infamous ‘guest house incident’ was the last nail in the coffin of the alliance. Mayawati inherited BSP’s reins from Kanshi Ram and maintained a bitter rivalry with SP, until Mulayam Singh Yadav’s successor Akhilesh Yadav cajoled her to form an alliance for the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections. Until then, it was unimaginable that Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati would share the same dais. However, the alliance reaped rich dividend for Mayawati, while Mulayam’s party saw no change in fortunes from 2014 LS polls.  

SP’s fall on the state and national stage has coincided with BJP’s rise. In order to keep his votebank intact, Mulayam Singh Yadav always maintained an arm’s distance from the saffron party.  
Throughout his political career, when it came to ideologies, Mulayam Singh Yadav was never opposed to criticising even his allies, but at the same time, he also knew how to forge alliances based on the direction of the political wind.