The shape-shifter

He was elected for the first time to the Vidhan Sabha in 1967 on a Samyukta Socialist Party ticket in 1967 8212; making him the state8217;s youngest MLA.

He was elected on a Bharatiya Kranti Dal ticket in 1974, and in 1977 he was elected on a Janata Party ticket when he became the cooperative and animal husbandry minister, as which he instituted reservation for scheduled castes and tribes in cooperative institutions.

In 1982 and 1985 he served as leader of the opposition in Uttar Pradesh and in 1989, when he was with the Janata Dal, he was sworn in as chief minister for the first time.

In 1991, his government fell when the Congress withdrew support to his government. He was elected from two seats but his party lost the election.

8226; In 1992, he broke with the Samajwadi Janata Party and formed the Samajwadi Party.

8226; He became UP chief minister again in 1993 and led an alliance with the BSP which happens to be the main rival of the SP. The alliance lasted till 1995.

In 1996 he won the Lok Sabha seat from Mainpuri constituency in UP and became defence minister in the United Front government at the centre. The UF government fell in 1998 but he won from the Sambhal Lok Sabha constituency.

8226; In 1999 when the BJP government fell at the centre, it was Mulayam Singh Yadav who scuttled the Congress8217;s bid to form a government. In his book senior BJP leader L.K. Advani mentions how Mulayam Singh Yadav assured both him and George Fernandes that he would never support a Congress government.

8226; In 2003 when the BSP, BJP alliance headed by Mayawati fell, Mulayam Singh Yadav was sworn as UP CM. It was suspected that this move was facilitated by the BJP.

In 2004, Yadav accused the Congress government 8212; which he was supporting from outside 8211; of meting out step-motherly treatment to UP.

8226; In 2006 along with other prominent regional parties like AIADMK, Asom Gana Parishad, Telugu Desam and National Conference, the Samajwadi Party headed by Mulayam Singh Yadav became part of the UNPA though Yadav continued to offer outside support to the Congress Government in the centre.

8226; In December 2006, Mulayam Singh Yadav and senior SP Leader Amar Singh accused Sonia Gandhi of phone-tapping and said that the Congress government in Delhi was getting the phones of senior SP leaders in UP tapped. In February 2007, SP withdrew support to the Congress saying that the latter was trying to impose president8217;s rule in UP.

Mulayam Singh Yadav accused the Congress and BJP of plotting a conspiracy to bring down his government. He went to the extent of threatening the Congress that if his government fell, the Congress would be wiped out from Delhi to Lucknow in the 2007 assembly elections.

8226; In 2007, during the election campaign both the Congress and the Samajwadi Party attacked each other during the election campaign. Yadav8217;s Samajwadi Party lost the election and Mayawati became CM in 2007.

8226; In January 2008, Mulayam Singh Yadav made a speech announcing that he was ready to join hands with the Congress in order to take on the BSP government in UP. Communication channels between the SP and Congress were revived when SP leaders attended the dinner hosted by the PM to mark the UPA8217;s fourth anniversary.

8226; Now, with the Left8217;s imminent withdrawal of support over the nuclear deal, the Congress has been working overtime to soften the SP. The SP now expresses its desire to bail out the Congress as it stands for a similar agenda, and is a lesser evil than the BJP. It doesn8217;t, of course, hurt that both the SP and Congress share a political foe 8212;Mayawati8217;s BSP which has acted as a spoiler and eaten into the Congress8217;s vote bank.