Mulayam Singh Yadav's 55 years in political arena

NEW DELHI: Mulayam Singh Yadav, who remained in the centre stage of heartland politics for nearly four decades out of his political journey of over 55 years, passed away at Medanta Hospital, Gurgaon, after prolonged illness on Monday morning.

He was 83 and is survived by two sons, former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav and Pratik Yadav, and arguably India's biggest political family.



Here's a look back at 55 years of Mulayam Singh Yadav's political arena:
1967-1985 | Saifai’s Son Rises
The social engineering icon’s political journey began in 1967 when he won from Jaswantnagar in the UP assembly polls as a 28-year-old. The seat in Etawah district, where the Yadav family bastion is at Saifai, and the neighbouring Mainpuri district constituted Mulayam’s state and national electoral base, returning him to office on all occasions but one, in 1980, when he lost his first and only major election from Jaswantnagar. The wrestler, though, would wrest back the seat in 1985. Mulayam’s enduring appeal with voters is well-attested to by the fact that he won the seat seven times till 1993, representing a different party each time — 1974 (BKD), 1977 (BLD), 1985 (Lok Dal), 1989 (Janata Dal), 1991 (SJP), 1993 (SP).

Mulayam Singh Yadav with Anil Dev
1985-1992 | The shaping of a staunch secularist
By 1980, Mulayam had already served as the state chief of Lok Dal and taken over as the president of the Janata Dal, emerging as the vanguard of the socialist movement of JP and Ram Manohar Lohia. He became the leader of opposition in 1985 but by 1989 found himself elevated to the CM’s chair thanks to BJP’s outside support to Janata Dal, although he would soon emerge as the saffron front’s bete noire. By 1990, as the Ram Janmabhoomi movement gathered steam, BJP withdrew support to Mulayam’s government, though it was saved for a while by Congress support. It was during this tenure that the CM would earn the sobriquet of ‘Mullah Mulayam’ for his efforts to preserve the status quo in Ayodhya that also saw police fi ring on kar sevaks, leaving over 28 dead.

Mulayam Singh Yadav with Lalu Yadav
1992-2003 | From Lucknow to New Delhi to Lucknow
In 1992, Mulayam — who had emerged as the protector of Muslims amid the Babri Masjid demolition episode — founded the Samajwadi Party. In 1993, the newly minted party joined hands with BSP to form the government in UP with Mulayam becoming CM for a second time. But in 1995, BSP walked out of the coalition and Mayawati took over as the fi rst Dalit woman CM of UP with BJP’s support. The beginning of an era of bitter SP-BSP rivalry was marked by allegations that SP workers tried to hold Mayawati hostage at Lucknow’s state guest house as BSP threatened to break the alliance. In 1996 though, Mulayam turned his gaze to Delhi, becoming an MP for the fi rst time from Mainpuri. He came close to the PM’s chair, but got the defence minister’s post in the United Front government.

Mulayam Singh Yadav with Amar Singh
2003-2022 | Wrinkles in the SP fabric and autumn of the patriarch

As the BSP-BJP alliance ruptured, Mulayam cobbled together his own coalition government, taking over as CM for the third time. A re-energised SP won its biggest-ever tally of 36 seats in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections but by 2007 the pendulum of power in UP had swung back towards Mayawati. Mulayam again moved to New Delhi as an MP but, in 2012, ensured that SP roared back to power in UP with 224 seats. At the pinnacle once again, Mulayam decided, however, to hand over the reins of SP to elder son Akhilesh and settled into the role of patriarch. But his withdrawal into the background coincided with a slide in SP fortunes, both electorally and within its first family. SP’s rout in the 2014 general elections — it was reduced to just five seats — was followed by a feud between Akhilesh and Mulayam’s brother Shivpal in 2016. Mulayam stayed neutral initially but eventually sided with his son. In 2017, he made way for Akhilesh as the SP president and, even though he was opposed to it, saw his son enter a pre-poll pact with Congress, which was soundly beaten in state polls by a BJP-led alliance.

Mulayam Singh Yadav with his son Akhilesh Yadav