Mulayam Singh
Yadav, the patriarch of the Samajwadi Party, died at Gurugram’s Medanta
hospital on Monday, October 10, after a brief illness. Yadav was 82 years old. The
three-time Uttar Pradesh chief minister forayed into politics through the Lok
Dal (People’s Party).

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He then went on to
form the Krantikari Morcha Party. Mulayam Singh founded the Samajwadi Party in
1992. Mentored by the likes of Raj Narain and Ram Manohar Lohia, Mulayam Singh Yadav’s
Samajwadi Party was a socialist grouping when founded, with an exclusively
UP-ite perspective.

The Samajwadi Party:
A brief history

Mulayam Singh Yadav
founded the Samajwadi Party on October 4, 1992. The party celebrated its 30th
anniversary on October 4 this year. According to Samajwadi Party’s website, it believes
in creating a socialist society which works on the principle of equality.

Samajwadi Party was
one of the many political parties that emerged out of the Janata Dal. Primarily
based out of Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party has contested elections in various
other states.

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Currently, the
Samajwadi Party is the 13th largest party in the Indian Parliament. It won five
seats in the 2019 general elections. The SP also has members of Parliament in
Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Two members of the party – founder Mulayam Singh
Yadav and his son Akhilesh Yadav – have served as chief ministers of Uttar
Pradesh.

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Two Samajwadi Party
leaders have also served as Union ministers. One of them, of course, is founder
Mulayam Singh Yadav, who served as India’s defence minister in the HD Deve Gowda
and IK Gujral government for two years.

The other Union
minister from the party was Janeshwar Mishra, who served as the Minister of
Water Resources in the Deve Gowda-Gujral government.

With the exception
of Mulayam Singh Yadav, other prominent leaders of the Samajwadi Party include:
Janeshwar Mishra, Akhilesh Yadav, Kiranmoy Nanda, Naresh Uttam Patel, Azam Khan
and Jaya Bachchan.