A former wrestler who drew on strength and guile in his short, stocky frame, Mulayam Singh Yadav found his way through the social and political matrix of India’s most populous state. In becoming one of India’s most enduring mass leaders in recent decades, he steered the power wheel of Lohiaite politics in the Hindi heartland, especially its post-Mandal strand.
A blend of OBC mobilisation and minority representation shaped his party’s political heft in Uttar Pradesh. But cronyism and a feud-infested family tree left a divided legacy. His last few years saw him being reduced to a languishing presence; the loss of hold over a party he sculpted made him a pale shadow of the force he once was of power equations in Lucknow and of rival claims in Delhi.
