Mulayam Singh Yadav, a former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and founder of the Samajwadi Party, has died aged 82.
His death was announced on the official Twitter handle of the Samajwadi Party.
मेरे आदरणीय पिता जी और सबके नेता जी नहीं रहे - श्री अखिलेश यादव
October 10, 2022Yadav, a three-time chief minister, was shifted to the ICU of Medanta Hospital in Gurugram on Oct. 2 after his health deteriorated.
The 82-year-old leader was being treated at the hospital since Aug. 22 under the supervision of oncologists Nitin Sood and Sushil Kataria, the PTI had reported earlier.
Yadav was among Indian politicians jailed during the Emergency in 1975, a defining moment for a generation of political leaders in India.
Born on Nov. 22, 1939 in Etawah, UP, the veteran Indian politician was regarded for his connect with backward classes. He was influenced by Ram Manohar Lohia's ideology and joined his movement for farmers' rights. Called Netaji fondly by his party members, Yadav was first elected as a legislator to the UP assembly in 1967.
On his return from jail after Emergency, he won back his seat in 1977. In his early years, he was with the Lok Dal and then with the Janata Dal after the two parties merged.
In 1989, the Janata Dal was successful in forming the government, with Yadav as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh—the Bharatiya Janata Party had offered outside support.
The BJP, however, withdrew over the Babri Masjid issue in 1990 and Yadav-led government survived with the Congress' backing till 1991.
After the demolition of Babri Masjid, Yadav founded the Samajwadi Party in 1992, banking on the support of backward classes and Muslims.
He returned to power, becoming the chief minister in 1993. That government fell in 1995 after Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party quit the coalition. The BSP leader joined hands with the BJP, sparking a bitter rivalry with the Samajwadi Party.
Yadav was then elected to the Lok Sabha and came close to becoming the prime minister in the United Front government in 1996. He was upstaged by HD Deve Gowda who turned out to be a consensus candidate for the 13-party alliance. Yadav was named the defence minister.
Yadav became the chief minister for the third time from 2003-2007 after the BJP-BSP government in the state collapsed.
Mulayam Singh Yadav taking oath as third time chief minister of Uttar Pradesh (2003). (Photo: Samajwadi Party website)
The SP won a majority in 2012 as well, but Yadav stepped aside to make his son Akhilesh Yadav the chief minister, while retaining the position of the party leader.
He had stepped away from active politics in the last few years.
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