Mulayam Singh Yadav is a politician in Uttar Pradesh, India. He has been repeatedly elected to the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly since 1965 and is the current chief minister of the state.
He first became a state minister in 1977. In 1980, he became the president of the Lok Dal (People's Party) in Uttar Pradesh which later became part of the Janata Dal (People's Party). In 1982, he was elected leader of the opposition in the Uttar Pradesh legislative council. He first became chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1989 with the support of BJP. His stand on the Ramjanmabhumi movement of the BJP was controversial and many people hold him responsible for firing on Kar Sevaks on October 30 and November 2,1990. After the collapse of the V.P.Singh government at the center in November 1990, Mulayam Singh Yadav joined Chandrashekhar's Janata Dal (Socialist) party and continued in office as chief minister with the support of the Congress party.
He had to resign in April 1991 when Congress withdrew support to his government in the aftermath of developments at the center, wherein the Congress party withdrew support to Chandra Shekhar's government. Mid-term elections to Uttar Pradesh assembly were held in mid 1991, in which Mulayam Singh's party did not perform well. On October 7,1992, he 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. The alliance between Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party prevented the return of BJP to power in the state. Though the alliance did not win the majority, Mulayam Singh Yadav could become 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.
There was firing on Uttarakhand activists at Muzaffarnagar on October 2,1994 , something for which Uttarakhand activists held him responsible. He continued holding that post until his ally opted into another alliance in June 1995. In 1996, he was elected to the eleventh Lok Sabha from Mainpuri constituency in Uttar Pradesh.
In the United Front coalition government formed that year, his party joined and he was named India's Defense Minister. The media reported rumors that he was a possibility to be its Prime Minister, but it is widely believed that fellow Yaduvanshi Kshatriya (Yadav) politician, Lalu Prasad Yadav scuttled his chances. That government fell in 1998 as India went in for fresh elections, but he returned to the Lok Sabha that year from Sambhal parliamentary constituency. After the fall of Vajpayee government at the center in April 1999, he did not support the Congress party in the formation of the government.
He contested Lok Sabha elections of 1999 from two seats-- Sambhal and Kannauj and won from both. He resigned from Kannauj seat, which was later won by his son Akhilesh in the by-elections. In 2002, following a fluid post-election situation in Uttar Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party and Bahujan Samaj Party tied up to form a government under dalit leader Mayawati, considered to be Mulayam's greatest rival.
After a one-and-a-half year stint, the BJP pulled out of the government on August 25,2003, and enough rebel legislators of the Bahujan Samaj Party left to allow Mulayam to become the Chief Minister, with the support of independents and small parties. Mulayam Singh Yadav was sworn in as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh for the third time in September 2003. It is widely believed that this change was done with the blessings of the BJP, which was also ruling at the Centre then.
In September 2003, when he was sworn in as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mulayam Singh Yadav was a member of the Lok Sabha. In order to meet the constitutional requirement of becoming the member of state legislature within 6 months of being sworn in, he contested the assembly by-election from Gunnur assembly seat in January 2004. He won by a record margin and polled almost 92% of the total votes. His victory margin of 183,899 votes is the highest margin of victory in assembly elections so far.
With the hope of playing a major role at the center, he contested Lok Sabha elections of 2004 from Mainpuri even though he was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. He won the seat and his party, Samajwadi Party won more seats in Uttar Pradesh than all other parties. However the Congress party, which formed the coalition government at the center after the elections had majority in the Lok Sabha with the support of the communist parties.
As a result, Mulayam Singh Yadav could not play any significant role at the center. He resigned from Lok Sabha and chose to continue as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. Mulayam belongs to the Yaduvanshi Kshatriya (Yadav) caste, which is large, influential backward community with a strong presence in Uttar Pradesh and neighboring Bihar. His Samajwadi Party largely bases its support of the Yadav's and Muslim.