Mulayam Singh rose amid ferment in UP, his journey would run parallel to state’s

A follower of Ram Manohar Lohia and steeped in socialist tradition, Mulayam established himself as an OBC stalwart, not afraid to speak his mind. After he took oath as UP's 15th CM in 1989, the Congress could never return to power in the state.

Born to a farming family in Saifai village of Etawah district, Mulayam was a wrestler-turned-student leader whose personal journey as a politician was closely woven with the political history of UP, including the Mandal-Kamandal politics of the 1980s and 1990s, till he transferred the reins to his son Akhilesh Yadav in 2012.

The period of intense social and political ferment that coincided with Mulayam’s rise saw OBCs gain political ascendancy in UP, leading to the sidelining of the Congress party dominated by upper-caste leaders. India’s most populous state was then also witnessing sharp communal polarisation in the wake of the bjp s Ram temple campaign.

In a tweet paying tribute to Mulayam, Prime Minister narendra modi said he had devoted his life to popularising the ideals of Jayaprakash Narayan and Ram Manohar Lohia. “He was a key soldier for democracy during the Emergency,” Modi said.

Mulayam first entered mainstream politics in 1967 at the young age of 28, winning from Jaswant Nagar Assembly constituency in Etawah district, as a candidate of Lohia’s Samyukta Socialist Party (SSP). He went on to win seven more times, from, respectively, Chaudhary Charan Singh’s party Bharatiya Kranti Dal, later renamed Bharatiya Lok Dal, Janata Party and  jantadal before forming his own samajwadi in 1992. He once said that the clue to winning an election was “parcha, kharcha aur charcha” (campaign, expenditure and ground level canvassing).