Cremation of the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav will take place at 3 pm today in Saifai village in UP’s Etawah district. Yadav’s son and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and former MP Dharmendra Yadav are among the family members present in Saifai.
Besides Azam Khan and his son, Om Prakash Rajbhar and his son Arun Rajbhar have also reached Saifai. OP Rajbhar said that he learnt a lot from Netaji, as Mulayam SIngh Yadav was fondly known, and that he is implementing all of it even today. Union Home Minister Amit Shah paid his last respects to the departed soul after visiting Medanta Hospital and met Akhilesh Yadav.
Union Minister Anupriya Patel also reached Saifai to pay tributes to the leader. Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Uttar Pradesh Deputy CMs Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak, Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, former Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, NCP MP Supriya Sule, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and AAP leader Sanjay Singh are likely to be present at the cremation of the former Samajwadi Party chief.
Moreover, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has announced a three-day state mourning as a mark of respect to the veteran politician.
Mulayam Singh Yadav was born on November 22, 1939 in Uttar Pradesh’s Saifai in a farming family. He was elected 10 times as an MLA and seven times as an MP mostly from Mainpuri and Azamgarh. He also served as the defence minister from 1996-98 and chief minister for three times (1989-91, 1993-93 and 2003-07).
He founded the Samajwadi Party in 1992, a year when the campaign for a Ram temple was at its tipping point. The veteran politician was mired in controversy in 2014 when he spoke against the death sentence for rapists as he said “boys make mistakes”.
(With agency inputs)
Also read: Mulayam Singh Yadav: From teacher to three-time CM – all about Netaji’s life and politics
Also read: Mulayam Singh Yadav was a remarkable personality, humble and grounded leader: PM Modi
