Battle for Lucknow: SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav takes active role to make party election ready

As major parties look to firm up efforts to play a crucial role in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh polls scheduled early next year, Samajwadi Party patriarch and former chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav has once again become active after a brief illness. Known as ‘Neta ji’ among party cadres, he is a regular at the SP headquarters in Lucknow.

The contest for Uttar Pradesh is crucial given its strategic importance for political parties to maintain or establish dominance in the Hindi heartland.

Due to his deteriorating health, his involvement had significantly reduced and he has been spending more time in Delhi. Mulayam sits at the Lohia auditorium built inside the SP office to give his special classes.


Mulayam Singh and his son were involved in a bitter spat over party’s reins during the previous assembly elections, but both of seemed to have resolved their differences over time. Akhilesh is also ensuring that his father’s peers are accommodated in the party.

Unlike the previous assembly election where SP fought polls in alliance with Congress, the party president and Mulayam’s son Akhilesh Yadav has announced that they will contest the upcoming elections alone. SP was reduced to just 47 seats in 2017 from its previous performance of 224 seats. Uttar Pradesh has 403 assembly seats.