Mulayam Singh Yadav’s father wanted his son to become a wrestler. Illuminate the name of the family in Dangal. For this, Mulayam had learned every trick of the wrestling arena. Everyone remembers the 1965 riots to this day, when a strong stature youth was beating powerful wrestlers in the arena of Jaswant Nagar. Nathu Singh, the then MLA from the stage, was watching his every trick and was getting admired. Mulayam liked him so much that in the 1967 assembly elections, he lobbied Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia to field him from the Jaswantnagar assembly seat. A 28-year-old wrestler set out on a bicycle to measure Lucknow and then Delhi. Scored the entire Jaswantnagar. The result also came in his favor and achieved the distinction of becoming the youngest MLA in the UP Legislative Assembly. After this Mulayam never looked back in his life. In the stubbornness of victory, he kept on moving forward and kept making records. In seven decades from 1967 to 2022, he took seven such decisions, which completely changed the politics of UP. Let us know about these decisions.
First Decision: Decision to join Lok Dal
The then MLA Nathu Singh lobbied Lohia and got Mulayam entered into politics. He became MLA from Jaswantnagar. After the death of Lohia, the Lok Dal led by Chaudhary Charan Singh was getting stronger in the state. Mulayam Singh Yadav joined in this. Then came the period of emergency. Mulayam joined the movement against the Congress rule. Became the leader of Jai Prakash Narayan’s movement. He was in jail for 19 months. Elections were held in 1977. Janata Party government was formed in the country and the state. Seeing Mulayam’s activism, he was made a minister in the UP government.
Second Decision: Decision to go with Chandrashekhar
Assembly elections were held in the year 1988 in UP and general elections in the country. The Janata Dal then got 208 seats in the 425-member UP assembly. 5 less than an absolute majority. 6 MLAs of CPI and two of CPI(M) got the support and Mulayam Singh Yadav became CM for the first time. But, things started going wrong. The then PM VP Singh started looking towards making Ajit Singh the CM. After that the atmosphere heated up. Mulayam started supporting Chandrashekhar instead of VP Singh at the centre. Chandrashekhar got the support of Congress. He was made PM. Mulayam Singh Yadav remained the CM. But, when Chandrashekhar’s government at the Center fell, Mulayam also had to step down. This decision of his is taken as a blow in the political field.
Third Decision: Order to shoot kar sevaks in Ayodhya
In 1990, the Ram Mandir movement was on the rise. Ram sevaks started kar seva in Ayodhya. The then Mulayam Singh Yadav government took a strict stand regarding this. There was an order not to allow the kar sevaks to reach the Babri Masjid premises under any circumstances. The first shot was fired on 30 October 1990 on the orders of the government. 5 kar sevaks were killed. A big karseva was announced in protest. On November 2, thousands of kar sevaks reached very close to the Babri Masjid. The police then opened fire near Hanuman Garhi. The death toll in the government figures is one and a half dozen. The actual figures are much higher. This decision of Mulayam is considered to be the most controversial decision of his life.
Fourth Decision: Decision to form a separate party
Mulayam Singh Yadav was in the Janata Dal, but things were not solidifying. Different factions had different voices in the party. Chandrashekhar’s run was over in the 1991 general elections. In UP too, on the basis of Ram temple movement, for the first time, the BJP government was formed under the leadership of Kalyan Singh. Then came 6th December. The kar sevaks demolished the Babri Masjid. The Kalyan Singh government fell from the state. However, before that Mulayam Singh Yadav formed the Samajwadi Party on 4 October 1992. The leaders of the socialist ideology of UP came together and a new politics started in UP.
Fifth Decision: Alliance with BSP
If we look at the big decisions of Mulayam Singh, he took a big decision politically in the form of alliance with BSP. The BJP government had fallen after the demolition of the Babri Masjid on 6 December 1992. There was a rise of Ram Mandir movement in UP. In such a situation, Mulayam along with Kanshi Ram formed a big alliance against the BJP. Slogans resonated in the political atmosphere of UP, Mulayam Kanshi Ram met, Jai Shri Ram flew in the air. Mulayam discovered such a cut of Kamandal’s politics that even the BJP could not get the benefit of the rise of the Ram Mandir movement. In the 1993 elections, the SP-BSP alliance won. But, two years later, the Lucknow guest house incident created a rift between the two parties. After leaving power from the hands of Mulayam, it went into the hands of Mayawati. However, this decision of Mulayam is considered as the biggest successful experiment of UP politics.
Apart from this, in 1999, Mulayam had indicated to stand by the issue raised by the BJP by raising the issue of foreign origin of Sonia Gandhi. In the year 2003, the BJP’s role is also considered to be a big role in toppling the Mayawati government and making it the Chief Minister for the third time.
Sixth Decision: Support of Congress
Mulayam Singh Yadav had signaled a change in his stand by supporting the Congress in the year 2008. At that time, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was in trouble over the nuclear deal. The Manmohan government was in danger of falling after the announcement of withdrawal of support by the Left parties. In such a situation, Mulayam Singh Yadav supported the Manmohan Singh government and saved it from falling. His move was then criticized a lot. It was termed as against socialist principles. However, this decision of the SP leader was considered in the interest of the country.
Seventh Decision: Decision to make Akhilesh the Chief Minister
In the year 2012, Samajwadi Party contested the elections by putting forward the face of Mulayam Singh Yadav. The then state president and younger brother Shivpal Yadav was considering himself as his successor. However, in the election, when the SP won 224 seats in the 403-seat assembly, the command of the government with absolute majority was handed over to Akhilesh Yadav. Shivpal Yadav also opposed this decision, but Azam Khan stood behind Akhilesh as a shield. When Shivpal fell alone, Prof. Ram Gopal Yadav started appearing with Akhilesh. Mulayam’s decision brought a rift between the party and the family. Controversy continues even today over this.
