Mulayam Singh Yadav cremated, a sea of people gather for last glimpse
Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav was cremated with full state honours in his native village of Saifai on Tuesday.
Samajwadi Party (SP) founder Mulayam Singh Yadav was cremated with full state honours in his native village of Saifai on Tuesday as top political leaders and tens of thousands of followers descended in Uttar Pradesh’s Etawah district to pay their last respects to the leader who shaped heartland politics for three decades.
A three-time chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and former Union defence minister, Mulayam died at a Gurugram hospital on Monday after a short bout of illness. He was 82. His mortal remains arrived at Saifai in UP’s Etawah district on Monday evening and were kept at his ‘kothi’ where thousands descended to pay their last respects to ‘netaji’, as he was fondly called.
Union defence minister Rajnath Singh, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and his Chhattisgarh and Telangana counterparts Bhupesh Baghel and K Chandrashekar Rao were among top leaders who arrived for the funeral service on Tuesday.
“We had a very strong relationship. Mulayam Singh Yadav was a big personality in Indian politics, it is a huge loss for the country,” Singh, who laid a wreath on the mortal remains on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said.
“We all have come here to pay our tribute to him. Prime Minister Modi could not come here but he asked me to pay tribute on his behalf,” he added.
On Tuesday morning, a truck decked up with garlands of flowers and a huge portrait of Mulayam ferried his mortal remains to Saifai Mahotsav pandal to allow people to pay their last respects.
Mulayam’s son Akhilesh Yadav, brother Shivpal Yadav and other family members were onboard the truck while a large number of people walked behind in procession, showering flowers on the vehicle.
At 3.45pm, Akhilesh lit the pyre amid chants of ‘netaji amar rahein’ (long live netaji) by party workers and supporters.
Several shops in the village remained shut as a mark of respect to the SP leader. In several households, women did not cook food for the second consecutive day.
“I am not able to convince myself that he is no more,” one Prabha Devi Savita said.
Ganga Singh, who walked to Saifai from neighbouring Bhaupur village, said: “Nothing is going to be the same ever for us. There are many leaders, but Netaji was a devta (god)…no one ever will be like him.”
Speaker Birla called Mulayam’s demise an “irreparable loss”. “As a ‘samajwadi’ (socialist) personality, he advocated the cause of the backwards and farmers. His death is an irreparable loss,” he said.
Uttar Pradesh deputy chief ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak were seen offering their condolences to Akhilesh during the funeral service. State minister Jitin Prasada, too, took part in the last rites.
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, his Chhattisgarh and Telangana counterparts Bhupesh Baghel and K Chandrashekar Rao, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath, Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu, NCP leaders Supriya Sule and Praful Patel, Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and Left leader Prakash Karat were also present at the spot.
Naidu termed Mulayam’s death a “loss for Uttar Pradesh”.
Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary, farmer leader Rakesh Tikait and senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh were also present as Mulayam was consigned to flames.
Industrialists Anil Ambani and Subrata Roy Sahara were also present at the venue. Actor and SP MP Jaya Bachchan marked her presence along with her actor son, Abhishek Bachchan, at the ceremony.
Yoga guru Ramdev, too, was seen accompanying Akhilesh at the ceremony.
Azam Khan, Abu Azmi, Ramgopal Yadav, Dharmendra Yadav, Swami Prasad Maurya, Ram Gobind Chaudhary, Kiranmoy Nanda, and Om Prakash Singh were among SP leaders who were seen since morning at the pandal where their party patron’s coffin was kept.
