A wrestler of his time before entering politics whose passion for the game even made him leave the exam to participate in a wrestling event. Later, turned out to be a huge figure in the UP’s politics.
Slammed the opposition with his unpredictable political moves. A life full of ruckus at the personal and professional front and the staunch fighter who fought till last. The colossal stature of UP’s three-time CM, who presented himself as one of the biggest socialist leaders of the country.
Netaji, as addressed by his staunch supporters is no more. A life in politics with a mixture of recognition and controversies. The top 5 incidents of his life that put his wits and the biggest controversies of his life on display
1. A wrestler who slammed Police Inspector on stage:
26 June 1960, Jain Inter College of Karhal, Mainpuri a Kavi Sammelan was organized on the campus. The famous poet of that time, Damodar Swaroop rebel was also present at the event. He reached the stage and started reciting his poem 'Delhi Ki Gaddi Savdhaan'.
The poem was against the government. That's why the UP Police Inspector posted there went to the stage and stopped him from reading the poem. When he denied complying his mic was snatched.
Inspector took the charge and said that he cannot read poetry against the government. While there was a debate on the stage, the 21-year-old wrestler sitting among the audience reached the stage running.
In under 10 seconds, the young man picked up the inspector and slammed him on the stage. Who knew, that young man will go on to become 3-time CM of Uttar Pradesh?
2. When his wit saved his life alongside scores of his supporters:
It was Sunday the 4th of March 1984, Netaji had rallies in Etawah and Mainpuri. After the rally, he went to Mainpuri to meet a friend. After the meet he would have barely traveled a KM, shooters Chhotelal and Netrapal unleashed mayhem by firing upon his car.
Cross-firing continued between Chhotelal, Netrapal, and the policemen for about half an hour. Chhotelal was among the loyalists of Netaji, knowing where he was sitting in the car.
Chhotelal fired 9 bullets into the part of his car, where Netaji used to sit, the continuous firing diverted the driver’s attention and the car fell into a dry drain. Knowing the conspiracy against him his wit came into action to save his life alongside others.
He asked his supporters to shout out loud 'Netaji is dead. Netaji is no more.' When all of Netaji's supporters started shouting, the attackers thought that Netaji was dead they stopped firing and started running away, but Chhotelal died on the spot due to the police firing and Netrapal was badly injured. The security personnel then took Netaji in a jeep to Kurra police station, 5 km away.
3. Ordered fire upon Kar Sevaks marching toward Babri Masjid:
In 1989, Mulayam Singh Yadav from Lok Dal became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. By the beginning of the 90s, the battle of ‘Mandal-Kamandal’ started across the country.
In such a situation, in 1990, activists of Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal performed Kar Seva for the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya.
It was on 30 October 1990, the crowd of Kar sevaks went out of control. The Kar sevaks were moving toward the mosque by breaking the police barricades Taking a tough decision, Mulayam Singh Yadav ordered the police deployed to shoot them.
The decision to fire on Kar sevaks established Mulayam’s images as anti-Hindu. Opponents leveled him as 'Mulla Mulayam'.
However, later Mulayam said that this decision was difficult. However, that incident provided a huge political mileage to Mulayam Singh Yadav and his party.
4. Imposition of Lohia’s vision and coalition with Kanshi Ram that prevailed over the BJP:
In 1956, Ram Manohar Lohia and Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar were planning to come together under the agreement. However, in the meantime, Ambedkar died and Lohia's planning of the Dalit-Backward joint did not succeed.
After the demolition of Babri in 1992, Mulayam started working towards implementing this plan of Lohia.
Mulayam announced an alliance with the then-big Dalit leader Kanshi Ram. The effect of this master stroke of Mulayam was also visible in the election results.
The SP-BSP alliance got 176 seats in the 422-seat assembly, while the BJP fell short of a majority. Mulayam returned to power by joining other smaller parties.
Upon his return to power, a slogan in UP - 'Mile Mulayam-Kanshi Ram, Hawa mein ud gaye Jai Shri Ram, became very popular.
5. Supported political rival Kalyan Singh in winning the election:
Cut to 2009, Mulayam held a public meeting in support of Kalyan Singh, who left the BJP and contested as an independent from Etah.
Kalyan was the Chief Minister at the time of the demolition of the Babri Masjid and had also served a sentence for contempt. The decision to extend support to Kalyan Singh led to a revolt within the party.
Senior leader Azam Khan took a dig at Mulayam. In the election too, Mulayam had to bear the loss. However, Kalyan Singh won the election with Mulayam's support.