One of the most successful and controversial politicians from Uttar Pradesh, Mulayam Singh Yadav, died on the 10th of October 2022 at the age of 82. He leaves behind him a family including an unsuccessful aspirant son and his brothers and nephews fighting and uniting before and after every other election in an attempt to somehow secure their political existence if not relevance in the Modi era of Indian politics.
Mulayam Singh Yadav was born on 22nd November 1939 in Saifai of Etawah in Uttar Pradesh. He drifted to politics as he was influenced by politicians like Ram Manohar Lohia and Raj Narain. He won his first assembly election in 1967 and won a total of eight times there onwards.
Such had been the record of his instability in the name of socialism, just like his few other contemporaries, that for the first six times he became the MLA from six different parties viz. Samyukta Socialist Party, Bharatiya Kranti Dal, Bharatiya Lok Dal, Lok Dal, Janata Dal, and Janata Party. In all these terms, he never got an opportunity to complete his term thanks to the political ups and downs in the state during those decades.
In 1992, he launched his party Samajwadi Party. Mulayam Singh Yadav deployed this party as a tool in the hands of goons to assert power over innocents in the years to come.
Mulayam Singh Yadav always used to claim that his party works for the backward classes, especially for the OBCs. He often quoted Ram Manohar Lohiya’s statement “Pichhada paave sau me saath” which means the backward should get 60 out of 100 percent. Mulayam Singh Yadav did not practice the quote when he was in power.
Instead, he went on to empower Yadav and Muslim goons in the state who later built their criminal empires worth crores of rupees that Yogi Adityanath had to demolish after taking over as the chief minister of the Uttar Pradesh that had become a Prashna Pradesh during the SP-BSP rule. Mulayam Singh Yadav and his party are responsible for giving free hand to criminals like Mukhtar Ansari.
Besides, there have been countless incidents where Mulayam Singh Yadav took an anti-Hindu stand and deployed it by abusing the state machinery he controlled on several occasions over the years. One of the most heinous incidents among these was the firing over the Kar Sevaks in Ayodhya.
Firing on Kar Sevaks in Ayodhya
On 2nd November 1990, Hindu saints and thousands of Karsevaks, comprising also of women and elderly people, took their march towards the Ram Janmabhoomi site where the illegal structure called Babri then stood. The security forces, who were instructed to stop the Hindus from reaching the site, lined up on the road to block the way.
Whenever the security personnel tried to impede the Hindu devotees, they would sit there and start chanting the name of Lord Ram and reciting Bhajans (religious songs). They touched the feet of the security personnel, deployed to prevent them from marching ahead. Each time they did this the security personnel would move back and the Karsevaks would move forward. Though unarmed, the Karsevaks remained undeterred.
This kept happening until the IG passed orders and the police personnel sprung into action. Tear gas shells were fired, and lathis were rained at the Karsevaks, but the resolute Ram Bhakts neither counter-attacked nor did they agitate or falter. Suddenly the security personnel started responding by opening fire. Many Hindu devotees were targeted and gunned down. It’s believed that the security personnel hunted and targeted Hindus in every lane and bylane leading to the Ram Janmabhoomi and within no time the streets converted into a war zone.
The incident which occurred in Ayodhya, almost 32 years back, left an ineradicable mark in the history of India. After the brutal massacre, different media houses had come up with different numbers of those killed on November 2, 1990. Though the official report on the incident concluded that 16 people had been killed in the firing, however, the fact remained that the number was potentially far higher.
This action is often seen in connection with Mulayam Singh Yadav’s statement from October 1990 in which he said, “Let them try and enter Ayodhya. We will teach them the meaning of the law. No masjid will be broken.” Mulayam Singh Yadav was the chief minister of the state at that time. “Mile Mulayam Kanshi Ram, Hawa Ho Gaye Jai Shri Ram” was the SP-BSP alliance’s campaign slogan for the UP Assembly Elections in 1993, which took place one year after the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi building was demolished. Due to his actions, Mulayam Singh Yadav acquired the title “Mullah Mulayam.”
Assault on Mayawati in the guest house by Mulayam Singh Yadav led SP
Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party formed a coalition government in the state in 1993. The alliance clinched the victory and agreed to share the CM post for two and a half years each. SP being the bigger party claimed its right the first and Mulayam Singh Yadav became the chief minister of the largest state which was also known as the mini parliament. Due to estrangement, on June 2, 1995, BSP announced the withdrawal of support and the Mulayam Singh Yadav government fell flat on its face.
Room No. 1 of the State Guest House at Meerabai Marg, Lucknow was Mayawati’s residence at that time. SP MLAs were angry as their government became a minority in the house. Enraged SP MLAs along with their supporters and goons reached Mayawati’s place of stay. Mayawati, who was sitting in the room with her MLAs, was first surrounded and then assaulted by the SP goons.
Unmetered expenditure of the state exchequer in the Saifai festival
During the Samajwadi Party regime, the Saifai festival, organized annually at the Saifai village, the seat of the Mulayam Singh Yadav clan in Etawah district, had often made headlines for the wrong reasons. For a state struggling to provide the basic necessities like roads, power supply, jobs, road transport, and food, the annual extravagance and festivities with the taxpayers’ money were seen as a vulgar display of power and family politics.
तारीख़ – 10 जनवरी 2014,UP की कहानी मीडिया की ज़ुबानी,इसीलिए नई नहीं,वही सपा है !! pic.twitter.com/afhHeT9GbT
— Dr. Shalabh Mani Tripathi (@shalabhmani) January 11, 2022
In March 2012, Mulayam Singh Yadav’s son Akhilesh Yadav became the chief minister of the state. Soon after that, the whole state machinery was deployed in the preparations for this festival scheduled in December 2012. This festival included the performance of popular artists like singer Kailash Kher and poet Munawwar Rana. Stand-up comedian Kapil Sharma was accompanied by Pakistani comedian Irfan Ali Hasan. Singer Sapna Mukharji and dancer Shyamak Dawar were also the ones among the key attractions of the festival that year.
The Saifai festival would be organized as an initiative to save the rural and folk culture and promote local art. But in reality, there was nothing folk or rural, instead, it catered to typical Bollywood entertainment to the ministers and officers spending the government funds. In 2013, violent and brutal riots happened in Muzaffarnagar. Relief camps were set for the victims of the riots. As the festival was scheduled in December, it was right in the middle of a cold wave. Children and kids were dying in those relief camps and the government along with its ministers and officials was busy organizing and enjoying the festival that included popular songs and dance numbers.
When Mulayam Singh Yadav’s attention was drawn to the fact, he dodged the question by terming it as a rumour. Mulayam Singh Yadav had then claimed that this was a move by the BJP to malign the image of the Samajwadi Party and its government in the state. Adding to this, the chief secretary of the state went on to make a controversial statement wherein he had said that nobody dies of cold.
Unabated Muslim appeasement by Mulayam Singh Yadav led Samajwadi Party
The Samajwadi Party has always been known for its Muslim appeasement politics. The appeasement policies started during Mulayam Singh Yadav’s tenure and continued when Akhilesh Yadav became the chief minister of the state. Even AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi had during an election rally launched a fierce attack on Samajwadi Party reminding its supremo Akhilesh Yadav how SP had come to power in UP with the help of Muslim votes. Akhilesh Yadav, too, had praised Muhammad Ali Jinnah while speaking at a party rally during the Samajwadi Vijay Rath Yatra.
Irresponsible reactions over the serious crime of rape
In 2014, the SP founder member Mulayam Singh Yadav had been rebuked by practically every section of society for his “Ladkon se aisi galtiyan ho jaati hain” remark when he was questioned on how justified it was to award the death penalty to the three accused in the Shakti Mills rape cases in Mumbai.
The veteran Samajwadi Party leader had said: “Ladkon se aisi galtiyan ho jaati hain to iska ye matlab nahin ki phaansi de di jaye (Boys do make such mistakes but that does not mean that they should be sent to the gallows).” Mulayam Singh Yadav had then opined that the death penalty for rape accused was “unfair”.
While the political career of Mulayam Singh Yadav has been controversial, to say the least, he was one of the most influential and powerful leaders in Uttar Pradesh who shaped the policies of the largest state of India for decades.
