NEW DELHI: The name of Mulayam Singh Yadav is not new to anyone who has followed Indian politics. The mastermind behind the formation of Samajwadi Patry and stalwart of OBC politics in the central Indian state of Uttar Pradesh breathed his last today. He was in critical condition and was under medication for some weeks now in the Medanta hospital in Gurugram. Born on November 22, 1939, he completed 82 years of age at the time of death.
He was a teacher and wrestler before coming into active politics. He was and MA in political science and a B.Ed degree He first become an MLA in 1967 from Etawah's Jaswantnagar under the banner of Samyukt Socialist Party. Mulayam Singh Yadav formed the Samajwadi Party in the October of 1992 and formed the government in Uttar Pradesh three times.
His first term as Chief Minister was for one and half years from December of 1989. The second was also for a similar duration from the December of 1993 while the third was for almost 4 years starting from August 2003. His son, Akhilesh Yadav is the current president of the party and he too formed a government in the state for a stable five years before Yogi Adithyanath came to power bearing the saffron flag.
A tweet from Akhilesh Yadav on the official party handle confirmed the incident. "My respected father and everyone's leader is no more", said the tweet. His demise has left the state in grief and several political leaders have offered their condolences. While PM Narendra Modi offered his condolences via tweeter, Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited the hospital. Defence Minister and ex-chief minister of UP, Rajnath Singh will be present for the last rites. Chief ministers of several other states including Goa, Bihar, Karnataka and Maharastra also offered their condolences on his demise. Ex-PM Manmohan Singh along with Sashi Tharoor and Mayawati also left their condolence notes.
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