Mulayam Singh Yadav is an Indian politician who hails from the Northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and belongs to Samajwadi Party. He was the 15th Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh who was elected thrice during the years 1989 to 1991, 1993 to 1995 and 2003 to 2007. Besides being the Chief Minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav had also served as Minister of Defence from 1996 to 1998 in the United Front government.
Early Life of Mulayam Singh Yadav
Mulyam Singh Yadav was born on 22nd November in the year 1939 in Saifai village in the district of Etawah in Uttar Pradesh. His parents were Sughar Singh and Murti Devi. It is said that his father desired Mulayam Singh to be a wrestler. Natthu Singh, who was his political guru, had noticed him during a match of wrestling in the region of Mainpuri. Natthu Singh was taken aback by the physical strength of Mulayam Singh Yadav and therefore awarded him the pocket of Jaswantnagar. Mulayam Singh is educated in degrees like B.A., B.T., and M.A. in the discipline of political science. He had studied in K.K. College in Etawah district, B.R. College, Agra University and A.K. College.
Initially, he was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly in the Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh in the year 1967. In 1977, he became a state minister. In 1980, Mulayam became the president of the Lok Dal or People`s Party in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The Lok Dal later became a portion of Janata Dal or People`s Party. He was elected as the leader of opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council in the year 1982. He continued working in the same post till 1985. Socialist leaders like Rammanohar Lohia and Raj Narain had imparted training to Mulayam Singh Yadav, and helped shape his political career to some extent. Indira Gandhi had lost to Mulayam Singh in the Lok Sabha elections in 1977 from the constituency of Rae Bareli
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Career of Mulayam Singh Yadav
Mulayam Singh Yadav became associated with Chandra Shekhar`s Janata Dal (Socialist) Party in the year after the nullification of the V.P.Singh government in November 1990. He continued serving as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, under the patronage of the Congress Party. However, in the middle of 1991, the party of Mulayam Singh Yadav was defeated by the BJP.
Mulayam Singh Yadav founded his very own political party, which was termed as Samajwadi Party in the year 1992. During the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections of 1993, Mulayam Singh Yadav joined the Bahujan Samaj Party. However, this alliance was unsuccessful in enabling him to win the majority of votes. But eventually, he went on to become the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, with the aide of Janata Dal and Congress. When he asserted that there should be a distinct state called Uttarakhand, he was severely criticized. He was also accused for a firing which had occurred at Muzaffarpur on 2nd October in the year 1994. He continued as the chief minister till Bahujan Samajwadi Party, his ally chose a new alliance in June, in 1995.
From Mainpuri constituency, Mulayam Singh Yadav was elected to the 11th Lok Sabha in the year 1996. He was granted the position of the Defence Minister of India in the same year, by the coalition government of the United Front. Following the collapse of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, Mulayam Singh refused to support the Congress Party in the in the formation of the government in the centre. He participated in the election of Lok Sabha in 1999 from Kannauj and Sambhal seats.
The Samajwadi Party and Bharatiya Janata Party entered into an alliance in 2002, under the leadership of Mayawati, who was the greatest rival of Mulayam Singh Yadav. In September 2003, Mulayam Singh was sworn as the Chief Minister of the state of Uttar Pradesh for the third time. During that time, he was a member of Lok Sabha. He took part in the assembly by-election from the area of Gunnaur in 2004. He won by a majority of 925 of votes. Yadav again contested in the Lok Sabha elections in the year 2004 from Mainpuri Constituency. Finally, Mulayam Singh Yadav resigned from Lok Sabha and decided to continue serving as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. In 2007, he was defeated by BSP.