Mulayam Singh Yadav

Born On: 22November 1939
Born In: Etawah, Uttar Pradesh
Career: Politician

A prominent political figure noted for his strong loyalty towards secularism and social justice, Mulayam Singh Yadav is still a political wrestler and an agile fighter as he was in his student days. In a long political career, which has been marked by extreme highs and lows, he served as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh thrice and Defense Minister of India twice. After every setback in his career, nothing stopped this seasoned campaigner from returning to power and he always bounced back from impossible and hopeless situations. In spite of all the criticism for playing power politics, he has always been a leader of the masses in his home state, Uttar Pradesh. Even in his seventies, he has not lost the mind of a student activist. As a minister, he ensured that the backward communities get reservations in cooperative institutions, worked actively for them and was jailed nine times in the fight for their protection and welfare.

Early Life
Mulayam Singh Yadav was born on November 22, 1939 in a peasant family to Sukhar Singh and Murti Devi at Saintai village in Etawah district of Uttar Pradesh. He took his M.A from Inter Jain College in Mainpuri and B.T from Agra University in Agra. In 1954, at the age of 15, he took part in the famers agitation launched by Ram Manohar Lohia against the Congress government and was imprisoned for a day. He also took part in the movement against corruption, which was launched by Jai Prakash Narayan and was send to jail. Following the way Lohia showed, Mulayam Singh Yadav became the president of K.K Degree College students union and served as the leader of Lohia's student's outfit, 'Samajwadi Yuvajan Sabha'. He served as the State Minister in 1977 and in 1980, and was appointed as the president of Lok Dal, which later became part of Janata Dal. In 1982, he was appointed as the Leader of Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly.

Career
Mulayam Singh Yadav entered into politics in 1967 as an MLA from Jaswant Nagar, Etawah with a socialist party ticket. He was elected to the house again in 1974 and 1977. In 1977, he served as the Minister for cooperation and Animal Husbandry. He became the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1989 with support from Bharatiya Janata party (BJP). However, the alliance did not last long due to his disagreement towards BJP's Ram Janmabhumi Movement. When BJP president Lal Krishna Advani started his Rath Yatra, Mulayam Singh Yadav stated that his government would not allow the Rath Yatra to enter Ayodhya as it will instigate sectarian tensions between Hindus and Muslims.

After V.P Singh government collapsed in the centre in 1990, he joined Janata Dal (Socialist) party of Chandrasekhar and remained as the Chief Minister with support from the Congress Party. When Congress Party withdrew support to his government and to the Chandrasekhar's government in 1991, he lost the power. In the same year, Mulayam Singh Yadav's party lost mid-term assembly elections to BJP. In 1992, he formed his own Samajwadi party and allied with Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP), which prevented the return of BJP back into power in the assembly elections held in November 1993. Even though the alliance failed to win the majority, Mulayam Singh Yadav became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for the second time with support from Congress and Janata Dal. His stand on the movement demanding statehood for Uttarakhand became controversial. He was held responsible for the firing, which took place in Muzzafarabad on October 2, 1994 on the Uttarakhand activists. He remained in the same post until 1995 until his ally opted for another alliance.

In 1996, he was elected to the Lok Sabha in Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh. His party joined the United Front Coalition government led by H.D Deve Gowda and became the Defense Minister. In 1998, the government fell as the country went for fresh elections. However, Mulayam Singh returned to Lok Sabha by winning from Sambhal constituency. He joined the United Front Government led by I.K Gujaral and retained the defense ministry. In 1999 Lok Sabha elections, he contested from Sambhal and Kannauj, and won from both constituencies. In September 2003, after BJP withdrew its support to the BSP, which has the ruling party in UP, Mulayam Singh Yadav became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh with support from independent parties and some rebel BSP legislators. In order to meet the requirement of becoming the member of state legislature within six months of being the Chief Minister, he contested from Gunnaur In 2004. He won by a record margin of 1, 83, 899 votes. He contested the Lok Sabha elections of 2004 from Mainpuri with the hope a playing a major role in the centre. He and his party won the elections, but Congress formed a coalition government at the centre with the help of communist party. Hence, he resigned from Lok Sabha and remained as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh till he lost the state assembly elections of 2007 to BSP.

Allegations of corruption hit Mulayam Singh when the Supreme Court of India Directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe about the uneven assets held by Mulayam Singh Yadav, his sons and daughter- in-Law.

Contributions To Politics
While serving as the Minister for cooperation and Animal Husbandry in 1977, he ensured reservation for the scheduled castes cooperative institutions.

Timeline
1939: Born in Etawah, Uttar Pradesh.
1954: Participated in famers agitation launched by Ram Manohar Lohia against the congress government.
1967: Entered into politics in as an MLA from Jaswant Nagar, Etawa.
1977: Served as the Minister for cooperation and Animal Husbandry.
1982: Appointed as the Leader of Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly.
1989: Became the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.
1992: Formed his own Samajwadi party.
1993: Became the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh for the second time.
1996: Elected to the Lok Sabha in Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh.
1998: Became the Defense Minister in the United Front Coalition government led by H.D Deve Gowda.
1998: Contested the Lok Sabha elections from Sambhal constituency as the government fell.
1998: Became the Defense Minister in the United Front Government led by I.K Gujaral.
2003: Became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for the third time.
2004: Contested and won from Gunnaur with a high margin.
2004: Contested and won the Lok Sabha elections from Mainpuri constituency.
2007: Lost the state assembly elections to BSP and resigned as the Chief Minister.