Mulayam Singh Yadav: Samajwadi Party supremo's political milestones

The Samajwadi (Socialist) Party was established by Mulayam Singh Yadav in 1992. He was Uttar Pradesh's chief minister three times (1989-91, 1993-95, and 2003-07). On November 22, 1939, a lowly peasant family gave birth to Mulayam. He was born in the UP village of Saifai in the Etawah district. He initially intended to pursue a career in wrestling, but instead, he attended college and graduated from Agra University with a master's degree in political science.

When he read socialist Ram Manohar Lohia's writings at the age of 15, he became interested in politics. Yadav's own beliefs and future political career were significantly affected by Lohia's views on social justice problems, including the equality of all peoples. 

Yadav's first electoral success came in 1967 when he was elected from Jaswantnagar to the lower chamber of the Uttar Pradesh parliament. He was reelected in 1974, but his term was cut short when he was detained for 19 months in 1975 while Prime Minister Indira Gandhi instituted a national state of emergency. He was one of the opposition politicians detained during this time. He ran for and gained back his position in the assembly in 1977 after his release.

During various agitations for the rights and welfare of farmers, labourers, youth, students, minorities, and lower classes, he had been imprisoned nine times. Yadav also became the leadership of the Lok Dal (People's Party) in Uttar Pradesh in 1977.

Yadav was chosen to lead the Janata Dal in 1980. (JD). With the help of the BJP, the JD formed the UP government in 1989, electing Yadav as chief minister. It was overthrown in 1991.

After the Babri Masjid was destroyed in December 1992 and riots broke out, Yadav discovered a new political life. He and the Samajwadi Party, which had just been founded in October 1992, became known as supporters of Muslims after the Congress administration in New Delhi failed to defend the mosque.

The SP gained enough seats in November 1993 to establish a coalition government, and Yadav was re-elected chief minister the following month. It was overthrown in 1995.

Yadav was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1996 and came very close to becoming prime minister. H.D. Deve Gowda of the JD overshadowed him by becoming the United Front (UF) coalition government's consensus candidate (of which SP was a member). Yadav chose to serve as the UF government's minister of defence.

In the 2002 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, the SP staged a stunning return, winning a majority of seats but not all of them. But after a brief BSP-BJP coalition government fell apart in 2003, the SP cobbled together its own ruling alliance, and Yadav was elected chief minister for the third time.

The SP easily won the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections at the beginning of 2012. Yadav continued to remain the party's head, but he resigned so that his son, Akhilesh Yadav, could take over as governor of the state.