Mulayam Singh Yadav

Mulayam Singh Yadav (born November 22, 1939) is an Indian politician and has influence mainly in Uttar Pradesh state of India. He has been thrice Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, and once Defence Minister of India.

Early life

He first became a state minister in 1977 and in 1980, he became the president of the Lok Dal (People's Party) in Uttar Pradesh. Later the Lok Dal became a part of the Janata Dal (People's Party). In 1982, he was elected leader of the opposition in the Uttar Pradesh legislative council. He has an M.A, and B.T. from Jain Inter College, Mainpuri, Agra University, Agra Uttar Pradesh.

Political career

First term as chief minister

He first became Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1989 with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). However his relations with the BJP were severely strained because of his staunch opposition to the BJP's Ram Janmabhumi Movement. When BJP President L.K.Advani set out for his Rath Yatra, Mulayam Singh Yadav declared that his government would not allow Advani's yatra to reach Ayodhya as his government viewed the yatra as an attempt to inflame sectarian tension between Hindus and Muslims.

After the collapse of the V P Singh government at the center in November 1990, Mulayam Singh Yadav joined Chandra Shekhar's Janata Dal (Socialist) party and continued in office as chief minister with the support of the Congress Party. His government fell when the Congress withdrew support to his government in April 1991 in reaction to the aftermath of developments at the center, wherein the Congress party withdrew support to Chandra Shekhar's government. Mid-term elections to Uttar Pradesh assembly were held in mid 1991, in which Mulayam Singh's party lost power to BJP.

Second term as chief minister

On October 7, 1992, he founded his own Samajwadi Party (Socialist Party). In 1993, he allied with the Bahujan Samaj Party for the elections to Uttar Pradesh assembly due to be held in November 1993. The alliance between Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party prevented the return of BJP to power in the state. Though the alliance did not win the majority, Mulayam Singh Yadav could become chief minister of Uttar Pradesh with the support of Congress and Janata Dal.His stand on movement for demanding separate statehood for Uttarakhand was as much controversial as his stand on Ayodhya movement in 1990 was. There was a firing on Uttarakhand activists at Muzaffarnagar on October 2, 1994 , something for which Uttarakhand activists held him responsible. He continued holding that post until his ally opted into another alliance in June 1995.

As union cabinet minister

In 1996, he was elected to the eleventh Lok Sabha from Mainpuri constituency in Uttar Pradesh. In the United Front coalition government formed that year, his party joined and he was named India's Defence Minister. The media reported rumors that there was a possibility of him to become Prime Minister of India, but it is widely believed that fellow Yaduvanshi Kshatriya (Yadav) politician, Lalu Prasad Yadav scuttled his chances. That government fell in 1998 as India went in for fresh elections, but he returned to the Lok Sabha that year from Sambhal parliamentary constituency. After the fall of Vajpayee government at the center in April 1999, he did not support the Congress party in the formation of the government. He contested Lok Sabha elections of 1999 from two seats—Sambhal and Kannauj and won from both. He resigned from Kannauj seat, which was later won by his son Akhilesh in the by-elections.

Third term as chief minister

In 2002, following a fluid post-election situation in Uttar Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party and Bahujan Samaj Party tied up to form a government under dalit leader Mayawati, considered to be Mulayam's greatest rival. After a one-and-a-half year stint, the BJP pulled out of the government on August 25, 2003, and enough rebel legislators of the Bahujan Samaj Party left to allow Mulayam to become the Chief Minister, with the support of independents and small parties. Mulayam Singh Yadav was sworn in as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh for the third time in September 2003. It is widely believed that this change was done with the blessings of the BJP, which was also ruling at the Centre then.

In September 2003, when he was sworn in as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mulayam Singh Yadav was a member of the Lok Sabha. In order to meet the constitutional requirement of becoming the member of state legislature within 6 months of being sworn in, he contested the assembly by-election from Gunnaur assembly seat in January 2004. He won by a record margin and polled almost 92% of the total votes. His victory margin of 183,899 votes is the highest margin of victory in assembly elections so far.

With the hope of playing a major role at the center, he contested Lok Sabha elections of 2004 from Mainpuri when he was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. He won the seat and his party, Samajwadi Party won more seats in Uttar Pradesh than all other parties. However the Congress party, which formed the coalition government at the center after the elections had majority in the Lok Sabha with the support of the communist parties. As a result, Mulayam Singh Yadav could not play any significant role at the center. He resigned from Lok Sabha and chose to continue as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh until he lost 2007 election when he lost to BSP.

Caste affiliation

Mulayam belongs to the Aheer caste^{[citation needed]} but they are saying himself (Yadav) caste that was the yaduvanhi not a backward cast while aheer is the backward caste, which is a large, influential backward community with a strong presence in Uttar Pradesh and neighboring Bihar. The main support base of his Samajwadi Party are Yadav, Muslim and other backward caste communities.^[2]

Timeline

See also

• Samajwadi Party
• Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
• List of people from Uttar Pradesh

References

External links

• Webpage of Mulayam Singh Yadav
• Profile on website of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly