Mulayam Singh Yadav was born to Murti Devi and Sughar Singh Yadav on 22 November 1939 in Saifai village, Etawah district, Uttar Pradesh, India.^[5]

Yadav has three degrees in political science — a B.A. from Karm Kshetra Post Graduate College in Etawah, a B.T. from A. K. College in Shikohabad, and an M.A. from B. R. College, Agra University.^[5]

Yadav has married twice. His first wife, Malti Devi, was in a vegetative state from 1973 until her death in May 2003 following complications while giving birth to their only child, Akhilesh Yadav. Akhilesh was Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh from 2012 to 2017.^[6][7] Yadav had a relationship with Sadhana Gupta while still married to Malti Devi in the 1990s.^[8][9] Gupta was not well known until February 2007, when the relationship was admitted in India's Supreme Court.^[10]

Groomed by leaders such as Ram Manohar Lohia and Raj Narain, Yadav was first elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly in Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh in 1967. Yadav served eight terms there.^[11] In 1975, during Indira Gandhi's imposition of the Emergency, Yadav was arrested and kept in custody for 19 months.^[12] He first became a state minister in 1977. Later, in 1980, he became the president of the Lok Dal (People's Party) in Uttar Pradesh which became a part of the Janata Dal (People's Party) afterwards. In 1982, he was elected leader of the opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council and held that post until 1985. When the Lok Dal party split, Yadav launched the Krantikari Morcha party.^[13]

First termEdit

Yadav first became Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1989.^[14]

After the collapse of the V. P. Singh national government in November 1990, Yadav joined Chandra Shekhar's Janata Dal (Socialist) party and continued in office as chief minister with the support of the Indian National Congress (INC). His government fell when the INC withdrew their support in April 1991 in the aftermath of developments at the national level where it has earlier withdrawn its support for Chandra Shekhar's government. Mid-term elections to Uttar Pradesh assembly were held in mid-1991, in which Mulayam Singh's party lost power to the BJP.^[15]

Second termEdit

In 1992, Yadav founded his own Samajwadi Party (Socialist Party). In 1993, he allied with the Bahujan Samaj Party for the elections to Uttar Pradesh assembly due to be held in November 1993.^[16] The alliance between Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party prevented the return of BJP to power in the state. Yadav became chief minister of Uttar Pradesh with the support of Congress and Janata Dal. His stand on movement for demanding separate statehood for Uttarakhand was as much controversial as his stand on Ayodhya movement in 1990 was. There was a firing on Uttarakhand activists at Muzaffarnagar on 2 October 1994, something for which Uttarakhand activists held him responsible. He continued holding that post until his ally opted into another alliance in June 1995.^[17]

Third termEdit

In 2002, following a fluid post-election situation in Uttar Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party and Bahujan Samaj Party joined to form a government under Dalit leader Mayawati, who was considered to be Yadav's greatest political rival in the state.^[18] The BJP pulled out of the government on 25 August 2003, and enough rebel legislators of the Bahujan Samaj Party left to allow Yadav to become the Chief Minister, with the support of independents and small parties.^[19] He was sworn in as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh for the third time in September 2003.^[5][19]

Yadav was still a member of the Lok Sabha when he was sworn in as chief minister. In order to meet the constitutional requirement of becoming the member of state legislature within six months of being sworn in, he contested the assembly by-election from Gunnaur assembly seat in January 2004. Yadav won by a record margin, polling almost 94 per cent of the votes.^[20]

With the hope of playing a major role at the centre, Yadav contested the 2004 Lok Sabha elections from Mainpuri while still Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He won the seat and his Samajwadi Party won more seats in Uttar Pradesh than all other parties. However the Congress party, which formed the coalition government at the centre after the elections, had majority in the Lok Sabha with the support of the Communist parties.^[21] As a result, Yadav could not play any significant role at the centre, Yadav resigned from the Lok Sabha and chose to continue as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh until the 2007 elections, when he lost to the BSP.^[22]

In 1996, Yadav was elected to the eleventh Lok Sabha from Mainpuri constituency.^[5] In the United Front coalition government formed that year, his party joined and he was named India's Defence Minister. That government fell in 1998 as India went in for fresh elections, but he returned to the Lok Sabha that yearfrom Sambhal parliamentary constituency. After the fall of Atal Bihari Vajpayee government at the centre in April 1999, he did not support the Congress party in the formation of the government at the centre. He contested Lok Sabha elections of 1999 from two seats, Sambhal and Kannauj, and won from both. He resigned from Kannauj seat for his son Akhilesh in the by-elections.^[23]

Criticism over comment on rapeEdit

The crime of rape became a capital offence in India following the 2012 Delhi gang rape incident. Yadav has opposed this change in the law, saying that "Boys will be boys. Boys commit mistakes".^[24] In response to 2014 Badaun gang rape and Yadav's comments, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said "We say no to the dismissive, destructive attitude of, 'Boys will be boys'".^[25] On 19 August 2015, Yadav remarked that gang-rapes are impractical and rape-victims in those cases tend to lie.^[26] He was summoned by the Judicial Magistrate of Mahoba district court in Uttar Pradesh for that remark.^[27]

Support for a sovereign independent TibetEdit

Yadav has said it is necessary for India to support a sovereign and independent Tibet. He said that a past government had made a "big mistake" on the issue and noted that he had spoken against it at the time.^[28] He believed that Tibet was a traditional buffer between China and India^[29] and that India should support the Dalai Lama and Tibetan independence.^[30] Claiming that China had secreted nuclear weapons in Pakistan, he cautioned that "China is our enemy, not Pakistan. Pakistan can do us no damage".^[31]

Family feudEdit

Since the young Akhilesh Yadav became Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 2012, surpassing Mulayam's brother Shivpal Singh Yadav, the Yadav family was divided into two feuding groups. One of the groups, led by Akhilesh, enjoyed the support of his father's cousin and National General Secretary Ram Gopal Yadav. The rival group was led by Mulayam Singh and supported by his brother and State Chief of Party, Shivpal Yadav, and a friend, former MP Amar Singh. Akhilesh had fired his uncle twice from his cabinet as it was seen by many as a direct challenge to his father, who has steadily supported Shivpal over Akhilesh.^[32] On 30 December 2016, Mulayam Yadav expelled his son Akhilesh and his cousin Ram Gopal from the party for six years on the grounds of indiscipline, only to revoke the decision 24 hours later. Akhilesh, in response, stripped his father off the party presidency and instead named him the chief patron of the party following the national convention of the party on 1 January 2017. Mulayam termed the national convention as illegal and directly expelled his cousin, Ram Gopal Yadav, who had convened the national executive convention. But the Election commission of India ruled that Ram Gopal Yadav had the right to convene that executive convention, and reversed Mulayam's order. Hence Akhilesh Yadav officially became the new national leader of the party.^[33]

Main Mulayam Singh Yadav, an Indian Hindi-language biographical film by Suvendu Raj Ghosh based on his life released in 2021; with Amyth Sethi playing the titular role in the film.^[34] Subhash Tyagi portrayed Yadav in the 2019 film The Accidental Prime Minister by Vijay Gutte, about Manmohan Singh - the former prime minister of India.^[35]

• Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003). India's silent revolution: Rise of lower castes in North India. C. Hurst & Co. ISBN 978-1-85065-670-8.
• Aditi Phadnis (2009). Business Standard Political Profiles: Of Cabals and Kings. Business Standard Books. ISBN 9788190573542.
• Rao, Ursula (2010). News As Culture: Journalistic Practices and the Remaking of Indian Leadership Tradition. Berghahn Books. ISBN 9781845456696.
• Brass, Paul R. (1997). Theft of an Idol: Text and Context in the Representation of Collective Violence. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691026503.
• Ludden, David E., ed. (1996). Contesting the Nation: Religion, Community, and the Politics of Democracy in India. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 9780812215854.
• Singh, Ram; Yadav, Anshuman (1998). Mulayam Singh: a political biography. Konark Publishers. ISBN 9788122005301.

• Profile on Samajwadi Party website