- Mulayam Singh Yadav passed away on Monday after being hospitalized for more than six weeks.
- Yadav had served as chief minister of India’s most populous state three times.
- He handed over management of the Samajwadi Party to his son Akhilesh Yadav in recent years.
Indian politician Mulayam Singh Yadav, who had served as chief minister of India’s most populous state three times, passed away on Monday after being hospitalized for more than six weeks. Yadav had served as chief minister of India’s most populous state three times
Yadav, who passed away at the age of 82, became active in political affairs when he was in his 20s. By the year 1989, he had risen to the position of chief minister in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
Because Uttar Pradesh is the state that sends the most representatives to the lower house of parliament, any party or coalition that has its sights set on gaining control of the federal government needs to do well there.
A year after a group of right-wing Hindus razed the 16th-century Babri Mosque in the town of Ayodhya, which led to riots all throughout India, Yadav became Uttar Pradesh’s chief minister for the second time in 1993. This occurred one year after the destruction of the mosque. His followers referred to him as “Netaji,” which is an Indian word meaning “respected leader.”
It became well knowledge that he and his Samajwadi Party were advocates of Muslims, who constitute a sizeable minority in Uttar Pradesh.
In addition to that, Yadav served as India’s federal minister of defence from 1996 till 1998. This action was taken by him as a member of a coalition government.
He held the position of Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for the third time from 2003 until 2007 inclusive. In recent years, he handed over management of the party to his son Akhilesh Yadav; however, he continued to serve as an influential leader and a member of the national parliament.
Akhilesh Yadav announced his father’s passing and thanked his followers for calling him “Netaji” in a tweet sent from the official account of the Samajwadi Party.
Akhilesh Yadav served as the state’s chief minister during the most recent period of Samajwadi Party dominance in the state, which lasted from 2012 till 2017. Since then, the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is currently in power, has won consecutive state elections, increasing the amount of pressure on the Samajwadi Party.
“When Mulayam dies, there will be a void, and it will be difficult for his son to keep the party and family together,” said Rajani Ranjan Jha, a former professor and dean of the political science department at Banaras Hindu University.
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