Guwahati: The state of Uttar Pradesh has declared three days of national mourning in honour of the death of Mulayam Singh Yadav, a veteran of the Samajwadi party. According to a spokeswoman, Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh called Ram Gopal Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav, the brother and leader of the opposition in the assembly respectively to offer his condolences.
“Death of former Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav is extremely sad,” said Yogi Adityanath.
“He was a pillar of socialism. His death is the end of an era of struggle,” he added, “I wish peace to the departed soul and my condolences to the bereaved family and supporters.”
He declared a three-day period of mourning and said full state honours would be accorded to the final ceremonies.
Three-time former chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav passed away at the age of 82 on Monday morning in Gurugram’s Medanta Hospital.
He was also the nation’s Defense Minister and was affectionately known by Samajwadi Party members as “Netaji” (‘Dear Leader’).
In the late 1980s and early 1990s when protests and agitations over the Mandal Commission which was established to identify India’s socially or educationally backward strata were at their height the former wrestler rose to prominence in UP politics. Backward caste leaders like Mulayam Singh and Lalu Prasad Yadav of Bihar were steadfast figures in the Hindi belt throughout the demonstrations.
Mulayam Singh Yadav won eight victories in state elections to become a member of the assembly for the first time in 1967. He also won seven elections to the Lok Sabha.
In his condolences, Prime Minister Narendra Modi noted that Mulayam Singh Yadav was a significant defender of democracy during the Emergency that the then-Congress government imposed in the middle of the 1970s.
Likewise, President Droupadi Murmu expressed sorrow over his passing.