Mulayam Singh Yadav arrives in Saifai to celebrate his 76 birthday

Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav was given a rousing welcome when he reached his native village Saifai to celebrate his 76 birthday on Saturday. In the evening, Mulayam will attend his birthday celebrations with a live performance by music composer A R Rahman at athletics stadium in Saifai. Hundreds of school children were lined up on both sides of 12 kilometer stretch between Saifai air strip and Saifai to welcome Mulayam. The children showered flower petals on Mulayam’s cavalcade while some of them played their school band.

Samajwadi Party Supreemo Mulayam Singh Yadav gests a grand welcome by the people after he arrived in Saifai for his 76th birthday celebration on Saturday (November 21). (Source: Express Photo by Vishal Srivastav)

A grand event has been planned at the village where the star attraction is a performance by Oscar winning composer A R Rahman and his 300-strong troupe. Like he did during his 75th birthday celebrations in Rampur, Mulayam will greet people riding in a special buggy. The guest list includes former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, RJD president Lalu Prasad, Bollywood stars Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan and several others. Invitations have also been sent to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, former SP leader Amar Singh and several business tycoons.

Supporters shower flowers on SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav as he arrives at a programme to celebrate his 76th birthday in Safai on Saturday (November 21). (Source: PTI)

Apart from Italian, Chinese and Thai delicacies, the menu will have dishes from different states of India. The catering is being done by experts from Delhi and Mumbai.

Village women wait to welcome SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav in Safai on Saturday. (Source: PTI)

Event firms from Mumbai are preparing the stage for Rahman’s performance. Nearly 1,000 workers are giving final touches to various arrangements and all the seats of the stadium have been painted in the ruling party’s colours — red and green. Nearly 250 temporary toilets, too, have been set up. The guests will be accommodated in various guesthouses of government departments. All roads have been illuminated with high mast lights.

Singer A R Rahman being welcomed by Samajwadi Party M P Dharmendra Yadav on the eve of his performance at the birthday party of Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav at Safai airstrip on Friday. (Source: PTI)

Across the UP, SP workers will celebrate Mulayam’s birthday in over 50,000 villages with decoration and distribution of sweets. Major markets in every district will also be illuminated across the state. SP’s state office will hold separate programme for Mulayam’s birthday.

Singer Hariharan being welcomed by Samajwadi Party M P Dharmendra Yadav on the eve of his performance at the birthday party of Samajwadi Party Supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav at Safai airstrip on Friday (November 20). (Source: PTI)