How Mulayam Singh Yadav came to dominate UP amid intense social, political churn

From his policies as CM to his role at the Centre, here is how Mulayam, called 'Netaji' by his supporters, worked up his way to dominate UP's political landscape.

Mulayam took oath as UP's 15th CM in 1989, which marked the year when the Congress was voted out, failing to return to power in the state ever since. (File)

By: Explained Desk

7 min readNew DelhiOct 10, 2022 01:29 PM IST First published on: Oct 10, 2022 at 01:23 PM IST

Mulayam Singh Yadav, Samajwadi Party (SP) founder and three-time Uttar Pradesh chief minister, passed away on Monday (October 10).

Mulayam rose in UP politics in a period of intense social and political ferment after the 1970s, when the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) had started gaining 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 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s aggressive Ram Janmabhoomi Temple campaign.

Here is how Mulayam, called ‘Netaji’ by his supporters, worked up his way to dominate UP’s political landscape.

Wrestling arena to political arena

A wrestler-turned-teacher, Mulayam, who was born on November 22, 1939, in Etawah, completed his MA (political science) and B.Ed degrees. He was elected as an MLA for the first time from Etawah’s Jaswantnagar in 1967 as a Samyukt Socialist Party (SSP) candidate, but lost the election in 1969 to the Congress’s Bishambhar Singh Yadav.

Ahead of the1974 mid-term polls, Mulayam joined Chaudhary Charan Singh’s Bharatiya Kranti Dal (BKD) and won Jaswantnagar seat on its ticket. He again won from this seat in 1977 on the Janata Party ticket. In the Ram Naresh Yadav government in late 1970s, he was co-operative and animal husbandry minister.

In the 1980 polls, when the Congress bounced back, Mulayam lost his seat to the Congress’ Balram Singh Yadav. He later switched to the Lok Dal and was elected to the state Legislative Council as its candidate and also became the Opposition leader.

In the 1985 Assembly elections, Mulayam was elected on the Lok Dal’s ticket from Jaswantnagar and became Leader of the Opposition.

Months before the elections to the 10th UP Assembly in 1989, Mulayam joined the VP Singh-led Janata Dal and was appointed its UP unit chief. After having emerged as the key Opposition face, he started a statewide Kranti Rath yatra. His rallies featured a theme song, “Naam Mulayam Singh hai, lekin kaam bada fauladi hai….”

In this election, the Janata Dal emerged as the single largest party, winning 208 out of 421 seats, just stopping short of a majority. The BJP bagged 57 seats while the BSP won 13 seats. Mulayam was elected from Jaswantnagar again on its ticket.

He was sworn in as the CM on December 5, 1989.

CM stints

Mulayam took oath as UP’s 15th CM in 1989, which marked the year when the Congress was voted out, failing to return to power in the state ever since.

Mulayam took over as the CM as Janata Dal leader with outside support from the BJP. He became the CM for the second time in 1993 as SP leader, when the Kanshi Ram-headed Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) became his ally. He was sworn in as the CM for the third time in 2003 as the leader of an SP-led coalition. His three stints together amounted to a period of nearly six years and 9 months.

In November 1990, when the Janata Dal was split into two factions, led by VP Singh and Chandrashekhar, the Congress supported the Chandrashekhar government at the Centre and the Mulayam Singh government in UP. Subsequently, the Congress pulled the plug on both the governments, which led to fresh polls in UP as well as at the Centre.

After the fall of his government, the SJP contested on 399 seats in the 1991 UP polls, but could win just 34 seats. Mulayam, however, was elected from both Jaswantnagar and Shahjahanpur’s Tilhar seats.

Mulayam served as the defence minister in the United Front government led by IK Gujral. (Express/File)

During his first stint as the CM, Mulayam was riding on the rising political and social aspirations of people belonging to non-upper castes. He started several schemes for their empowerment, including a coaching scheme for the SC/ST/OBC candidates preparing for various competitive examinations. He however remained in the line of the Opposition’s fire over his party’s association with several politicians with criminal background.

In his second stint, his government increased OBC reservation from 15 per cent to 27 per cent on the basis of the Mandal Commission report. It ensured quota for various social categories in the three-tier panchayat raj institutions. But he was dogged by allegations of protecting criminals and promoting his family members in politics.

The SP is founded

In 1992, Mulayam founded his own party, the SP, which became a leading player in UP politics since.

Mulayam took oath as the CM for the second time after the 1993 polls, in which the SP won 108 seats as against the BJP’s 176 and the BSP’s 68. He contested from Shikohabad, Jaswantnagar and Nidhaulikalan, and won from all three seats. The BJP staked claim to form the government as the single largest party, even as Mulayam claimed the support of 242 members belonging to all the non-BJP parties and some Independents.

A 27-member SP-BSP coalition ministry headed by Mulayam assumed office on December 4, 1993. On January 29,1995, the Congress withdrew support to this government. On June 1,1995, the BSP also pulled the plug on the government. Governor Motilal Vora asked Mulayam to resign, but he refused to do so. On June 3, 1995, Vora dismissed the Mulayam government.

The 2002 polls threw up a hung UP Assembly, following which the BSP and the BJP jointly formed their coalition government with BSP leader Mayawati as the CM. In August 2003, Mayawati resigned, clearing the decks for Mulayam to get sworn in as the CM for the third time. He had not contested the 2002 election. After taking over as the CM in August 2003, he contested the by-election from Gunnaur and won.

Amid growing social fragmentation and the BJP wooing several non-Yadav OBC castes, Mulayam was then increasingly being perceived as a leader of Yadavs and Muslims. To expand his social base, he tried outreach to upper-caste communities, especially Thakurs. His third CM stint was thus highly influenced by his associate, late Amar Singh, who connected him with corporate and film circles too.

In the 2012 polls, when the SP won a majority and formed its government, Mulayam transferred the leadership mantle to his son Akhilesh Yadav, letting him take over as the CM.

Outside UP

Mulayam was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1996 polls and served as the defence minister in the United Front governments led by HD Deve Gowda and, later, IK Gujral. He also contested successfully a number of subsequent Lok Sabha elections, including the 2019 polls, from various seats across UP. He contested in 2007 from two seats, Bharthana in Etawah and Gunnaur in Badaun, and won both.

As the defence minister, Mulayam was known for promoting Hindi in the defence establishments’ correspondences.

In 1999, when the Atal Behari Vajpayee government fell by one vote and Congress president Sonia Gandhi appeared set to lead the formation of a coalition government, it was Mulayam who raised the issue of her foreign origin and thwarted her move.