Mulayam Singh Passes Away at 82. 10 Things You Need to Know About Him 

Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party Founder Mulayam Singh Yadav passed away in the Medanta Hospital in Gurugram. He was 82.

1. Mulayam was born on November 22, 1939 and was one of the most prominent leaders of Uttar Pradesh who served as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh thrice and has also served in the Union Government as the Minister of Defence. He has been elected 10 times as MLA and 7 times as Lok Sabha MP.
2. A wrestler-turned-teacher, Mulayam, who was born in Etawah, completed his MA (political science) and B.Ed degrees. He was elected as an MLA for the first time from Etawah’s Jaswantnagar in 1967 as a Samyukt Socialist Party (SSP) candidate, but lost the election in 1969 to the Congress’s Bishambhar Singh Yadav.
3. Ahead of the 1974 mid-term polls, Mulayam joined Chaudhary Charan Singh’s Bharatiya Kranti Dal (BKD) and won Jaswantnagar seat on its ticket. He again won from this seat in 1977 on the Janata Party ticket. In the late 1970s, he was co-operative and animal husbandry minister.
4. Under VP Singh’s government, Mulayam now showed his true strengths as an organiser and a man who could cultivate friendships with people across castes and communities. While several criticised him for what was seen as dubious flexibility, Mulayam built lasting relationships on this quality.
5. After the demise of Charan Singh in 1987, Mulayam rose as the most powerful leader within the Lok Dal. He set out on a campaign across the state against the Congress and against the BJP’s Ram Temple movement. 
6. In October 1990, the BJP withdrew support to the V P Singh government at the Centre as well as from the Janata Dal government in UP. Mulayam turned to Chandra Shekhar, and with the support of the Congress saved his government.
7. Later, in October 1992, he formed his own Samajwadi Party. As the BSP under Kanshi Ram and Mayawati grew, in 1993, Mulayam managed to forge an alliance with the BSP for the coming Assembly elections — again changing all the established political equations of UP politics.
8. During his first stint as the CM, Mulayam started several schemes for the empowerment of non-upper castes, including a coaching scheme for the SC/ST/OBC candidates preparing for various competitive examinations. 
9. Mulayam had become the CM for the second time after the 1993 polls, which saw a combination of OBC and SC forces keeping the BJP out of power even though the elections were held after the Babri mosque’s demolition followed by the dismissal of BJP governments in four states.
10. In the 2012 polls, when the SP won a majority and formed its government, Mulayam transferred the leadership mantle to his son Akhilesh Yadav, letting him take over as the CM.