The Mulayam family saga: From power and glory to bitter feuds | Political Pulse News,The Indian Express
In his long innings in public life, he also managed to build the political careers of his family members including son, daughters-in-law, brothers, cousins, nephews, nieces and grandnephews.
Mulayam, who established himself as a stalwart socialist leader in Uttar Pradesh, served as the CM thrice (1989-1991, 1993-1995 and 2003-2007). An eight-time MLA and seven-time MP, he was the only leader in UP to have served as the Leader of the Opposition in both Houses of the UP Legislature. In his long innings in public life, he also managed to build the political careers of his family members including son, daughters-in-law, brothers, cousins, nephews, nieces and grandnephews.
Akhilesh Yadav
Mulayam’s son Akhilesh Yadav emerged as his political successor, becoming not only the UP CM in 2012 but also the SP national president. Easing out his father from the SP chief’s post, Akhilesh took charge of the party in 2016-17. On September 29 this year, Akhilesh was elected the SP national president for the third time at a party convention in Lucknow. Mulayam skipped all three party conventions where Akhilesh was elected as the party president.
While he took over as the CM for the first time as a Janata Dal leader, Mulayam floated the SP in 1992 with colleagues like Beni Prasad Verma and Reoti Raman Singh after the Janata Dal disintegrated. The same year, his cousin Ramgopal Yadav was elected to the Rajya Sabha, while younger brother Shivpal Yadav became the Etawah Cooperative Bank chairman. Two years after the setback in the 2007 Assembly polls clinched by the BSP, Mulayam began encouraging Akhilesh, then an MP, to spend more time in Lucknow and meet party leaders and workers as he had future plans for him.
When the SP won majority in the 2012 Assembly elections, a section of senior party leaders wanted Mulayam to take over as the CM again. However, Mulayam decided to pick Akhilesh for the CM’s post, sensing in it an ideal opportunity to establish Akhilesh in politics. Sources said that while Shivpal was then reluctant to accept Akhilesh as the CM, Ramgopal and other family members stood by Mulayam’s decision.
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