Mulayam Singh Yadav: From teacher to three-time CM – all about Netaji's life and politics

Mulayam Singh Yadav, the founder patron of the Samajwadi Party and three-time chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, passed away on Monday. He was 82. The veteran leader was not keeping well for quite some time. He was recently admitted to Gurugram's Medanta Hospital, where he was kept in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). He had been hospitalised since August 22 for a lung ailment and infection in the urinary tract.

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Yadav's departure leaves a void in Indian politics, especially in Uttar Pradesh where his party emerged as the dominant force and pushed two national parties - BJP and Congress - to the margins for 15 years until the saffron party made a comeback in 2017. There was a time when the fight in the state election was only between Mayawati's BSP and Mulayam's SP.

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Born on November 22, 1939 in Saifai village of Etawah district, Yadav did his schooling and graduated from Etawah. He did MA from BR College, Agra University. After this, he started teaching at Jain Inter College in the Manipuri district's Karhal.
 
Yadav's entry into politics had its origin in a wrestling match. He was participating in a match in Mainpuri and impressed Nathu Singh, the then MLA of Jaswantnagar in Mainpuri with his skills and resilience. Nathu Singh then picked Mulayam as his protege in politics and fielded him as the candidate on his assembly seat on the Sanyukta Socialist Party ticket.
 
Yadav was greatly influenced by leaders like Ram Manohar Lohia and Raj Narain. In its ideology section on the official site, the Samajwadi Party states that Ram Manohar Lohia is a guiding light for the party. Yadav joined the great socialist leader's movement during the 1950s to fight for farmers’ rights. He was called 'Little Napoleon' by former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh, as per the Samajwadi Party. Fondly addressed as Netaji, Yadav founded the Samajwadi Party on October 4, 1992
 
Yadav was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh for the first time in 1967 from Jaswantnagar. Ten years later, he became a minister for the first time. He kept on rising on the power ladder and became the chief minister of the state in 1989. He served as the chief minister thrice - 1989 to 1991, from 1993 to 1995, and from 2003 to 2007. His party won the election with a majority in 2012 but the SP patron handed over the reins to his son Akhilesh Yadav.
 
The SP veteran also served as the defence minister in the United Front government headed by then Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda. Yadav headed the defence portfolio from June 1996 to March 1998. He first entered the Lok Sabha in 1996, when he won from Mainpuri. Later, he was elected to the Lower House six more times. In 2019, Yadav was elected to Lok Sabha from Mainpuri, a constituency he represented three times.
 
Mulayam Singh Yadav narrowly missed out on becoming PM
 
Then SP chief Yadav narrowly missed out on becoming the Prime Minister twice, in 1996 and 1998
 
When the United Front was about to form a government in 1996, Mulayam’s name was floated by a senior front leader for the post of prime minister. It is believed that Yadav was ahead in the race for the Prime Minister's post in 1996, but could not become the PM due to the objections of Lalu Prasad Yadav and Sharad Yadav.
 
In 1996, Congress had a crushing defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had 161 seats in its account. BJP's Atal Bihari Vajpayee accepted the invitation to form the government. Vajpayee took oath as the Prime Minister. However, the government fell after 13 days. Now the question arose as to who would form the new government. There were 141 seats in the Congress quota. It was in no mood to form an alliance government.
 
Then all eyes were fixed on VP Singh. He formed a coalition government in 1989. But, he refused to become the Prime Minister. He then forwarded the name of Bengal CM Jyoti Basu. However, the Polit Bureau rejected VP Singh's offer. After this, the names of Mulayam and Lalu Prasad Yadav had come to the fore in the race for Prime Minister. However, Lalu was out of the race after being named in the fodder scam. Then the task of uniting everyone was entrusted to the big leader of the Left, Har Kishan Singh Surjit. In this, he was successful. He had advocated Mulayam's name. However, Lalu Prasad Yadav and Sharad Yadav opposed Mulayam's name.
 
In 1999, elections were held again. Mulayam Singh won from Sambhal and Kannauj seats. Yadav's name came up again. But, other Yadav leaders again withdrew their hands. This way, he was just a little bit away from becoming the Prime Minister twice.