The Consummate Politician

Mulayam Singh Yadav, 82 is no more. He leaves behind a withering legacy, with the anointed heir Akhilesh Yadav in charge.

Mulayam Singh is a politician who made waves. Like him or not, his contribution to politics was immense. He emerged from the socialist movement, groomed as they said by Raj Narain (who shot to fame by taking on Indira Gandhi in her home constituency in UP) and Ram Manohar Lohia. He contested and won the Assembly election from Jaswantnagar in 1969, and continued to win from this constituency for successive seven terms - till 1993.

He was jailed during the emergency for 19 months. But despite the struggle and the success, Mulayam Singh came into his own after his Lok Dal merged into the Janata Dal and he became the Chief Minister of UP in 1989. He brought socialism into governance; he supported the implementation of the Mandal Commission report even though it brought down the Vishwanath Pratap Singh government; and he founded the Samajwadi party subsequently, which was perhaps his biggest contribution to politics at the time.

The first dissipated, in that socialism as preached by Mulayam Singh's mentors became a casualty with the increasing influence of entrepreneur Amar Singh. By the end of his career Mulayam Singh was barely recognisable as the old fiery socialist, appearing more confused and disoriented as the years wore on.

Mulayam Singh was a strong supporter of the Mandal Commission but unable to extend its reach to cover the backward classes of UP. There was truth in the criticism that he used it to consolidate his Yadav vote bank, while the other backwards remained out of the development frame. The Kurmis, Lodh Rajputs and others thus, remained, out of both Congress and Samajwadi politics with the Bharatiya Janata Party taking 'kamandal' - as villagers would put it so eloquently then – to blunt the power of 'mandal.' Mulayam Singh remained largely oblivious to this although he encouraged some caste leaders in his party to expand the reach, but only in pockets.

His larger success was the formation of the Samajwadi Party, after he left the Janata Dal. Mulayam Singh built a strong, secular organisation at the grassroot level. SP leaders were strong in their areas, 'dabang' as they described themselves, and completely loyal to the old wrestler who ran the party with an amazing degree of democracy. It did not stop Mulayam Singh from flirting with the BJP on occasion. Despite this he remained well at the centre of secular politics of the time. And as CPI-M's Harkishen Singh Surjeet explained then, "we cannot leave him out as by doing so we will also be dropping the most secular and solid political organisation in UP." The character of that has remained unchanged.

Mulayam Singh earned bouquents, and also brickbats, for his stand on the Babri Masjid. Unlike the Congress party, he refused to compromise during those days and as political analysts have recorded since, his administration was able to avert the demolition at the time. Despite the onslaught he stood firm.

Earlier Mulayam Singh was also extremely keen to stop the Advani rath yatra in Uttar Pradesh as the chief minister. He made full preparations for the arrest. He claimed later that this was done on the basis of an assurance by PM V.P.Singh that he should do the 'honours' as it were. However, without any information to the contrary, Advani was arrested in Bihar by Lalu Prasad Yadav and the yatra stopped. This was seen as a betrayal by the UP leader, as he had not been informed of the change in plans, and this created a life long rift between him and Singh as well as the Bihar chieftain.

He took it as a 'conspiracy' by both VP Singh and Lalu Yadav, even though the former claimed that the change of strategy was because other colleagues had pointed out that the rath could not travel through Bihar unchallenged. How will you explain this to the masses, why no action was taken in Bihar under a JD government, and why was the rath able to travel through the state without action — was the argument that VP Singh said had persuaded him to ask Lalu Yadav to go ahead with the arrest.

Needless to say this also turned the two Yadav's against each other, and even while some efforts at rapprochement were visible several years later, these did not really work for either.

Mulayam Singh contested the MP elections from Mainpuri in 1996 and was made Defence Minister. He had joined Chandrashekhar after the VP Singh government fell. He vacillated between constituencies in subsequent elections, then came back briefly to head the UP government as a MLA again in 2003. Then back to parliamentary elections, the last being in 2019 from Mainpuri that he cultivated successfully. He was the MP from Mainpuri till his death.

Those who have watched Mulayam Singh over the years, saw him as an enthusiastic, hard working, passionate politician during his socialist days. He always displayed rare courage, and did not hesitate to take on entrenched powers. He was always suspicious of the Congress, and remained outside its area of influence. Along with VP Singh, he was able to keep both the BJP and the Congress out of UP as a sort of mission. He was accessible as a socialist, but when the corporate influence entered his life through Amar Singh he became increasingly isolated.

Over his last years he lost his moorings. He fought his son Akhilesh Yadav and brother Gopal Singh Yadav, and went along with his rebel brother Shivpal Singh Yadav. These were bitter years, and made it particularly tough for Akhilesh to take on the reins of the Samajwadi Party. A disadvantage he has not really recovered from, as the organisation was seriously damaged during the rift; and Akhilesh Yadav's authority eroded. Mulayam Singh went back to his son, made amends, but was ailing for a while before he passed. He will be remembered by posterity not for the mistakes he made, but the passion and fervour he brought to the Opposition space in the country.