Mulayam Singh Yadav’s life
Mulayam Singh Yadav, was a former wrestler had come to the limelight when he hit the headlines in Uttar Pradesh politics in the late 1980s and early 1990s when protests and agitations over the Mandal Commission were at their peak.
He earned his reputation not only for partnering with his friends, but also with his rivals.
Mulayam Singh Yadav became the Defence Minister in the United Front government in 1996. After the fall of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government at the centre in 1999 he decided to not to back Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, but he assured her of his party’s support.
Mulayam Singh Yadav’s party Samajwadi Party returned to power in UP in 2012 when he passed on the baton to his son Akhilesh due to his health condition.
In 2016, he shocked everyone when he expelled Akhilesh Yadav from the party just ahead of the crucial 2017 assembly elections in UP.
However, the father-son duo later patched up, with Akhilesh Yadav emerging as the powercentre of Samajwadi Party.
In July this year, Mulayam Singh Yadav’s second wife Sadhna Gupta died after undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Gurugram for a lung infection.
In 2003, his first wife Maalti Devi and mother of Akhilesh Yadav passed away.