The Samajwadi Party will celebrate its founder Mulayam Singh Yadav’s birth anniversary in all districts of Uttar Pradesh on November 22 this year. Members of the party will vow to follow the path shown by Yadav while remembering his struggles to establish the ideology of socialism. Apart from this, the party will also distribute food and clothes to the poor and set up blood donation camps.
Three-time UP chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav passed away on October 10 this year after a prolonged illness.
On Mulayam Singh Yadav’s birth anniversary on November 22, here’s a look at some interesting facts about the political stalwart.
Born on November 22, 1939, to Murti Devi and Sughar Singh Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav hailed from Saifai village. Yadav graduated from Karm Kshetra Post Graduate College in Etawah and also earned a BT degree from AK College in Shikohabad. He completed his Master of Arts from BR College, Agra University.
He became a teacher in a government school after completing his education.
Yadav aspired to be a wrestler. It was during a wrestling match in Mainpuri that former MLA of Jaswantnagar Nathu Singh noticed him and was impressed by his skills and resilience. Singh groomed Yadav as his protege. This marked Mulayam Singh Yadav’s entry into politics.
He got elected for the first time as an MLA for the first time in 1967 from Etawah’s Jaswantnagar on a Samyukt Socialist Party ticket. He became the youngest member of the state assembly at the age of 28. However, he lost the election in 1969 to the Congress’s Bishambhar Singh Yadav.ALSO READ
Mulayam Singh Yadav was influenced by socialist writer Ram Manohar Lohia. At the beginning of his career, he championed the cause of the lower castes and minorities. He later became an OBC stalwart.
The veteran leader served as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for three terms. His first stint was short-lived and lasted from 1989 to 1991.
In 1992, he separated from Congress and founded the Samajwadi Party. He served as the state’s chief minister from 1993 to 95 and from 2003 to 2007.
After the end of the President’s rule in Uttar Pradesh, Mulayam Singh Yadav came back to power in the 1994 elections with the support of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
He also served as the defence minister of India in 1996 in the HD Dewe Gowda-led United Front government.
Although his name was floated by a senior front leader for the post of Prime Minister, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav opposed the idea.
In 2012, he chose his son Akhilesh Yadav to be the CM after the Samajwadi Party gained a full majority in the Uttar Pradesh elections.First Published: Nov 22, 2022 6:54 AM IST
