The condolences pour in from senior political leaders cutting across the party lines including President and Prime Minister of India and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
Clarion India
NEW DELHI — Former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and Veteran Samajwadi leader and MP, Mulayam Singh Yadav, breathed his last in Vedanta Hospital in Gurugram on Monday after a prolonged illness. His death was confirmed by his son, former chief minister of UP, Akhilesh Yadav, through a tweet.
In a tweet, Akhilesh said, “My respected father and everyone’s leader is no more.”
Former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and the founder of the Samajwadi Party Mulayam Singh Yadav was 82 and had been on life support system since the past one week. He was admitted to the Medanta hospital in Gurugram on August 22.
According to hospital sources, he breathed his last at 8.15 a.m. on Monday.
The news of his death was met with howls of grief and tears from thousands of supporters and party workers gathered outside the Medanta hospital in Gurugram where Mulayam Singh Yadav breathed his last.
Several policemen were reportedly deployed around the hospital to control the crowds and supporters of their leader.
“He was our beloved leader who played a major role in the development of Uttar Pradesh. His contribution towards the development of UP cannot be forgotten,” a supporter of the leader outside the hospital said.
The 82-year-old Samajwadi Party patriarch was facing difficulty in breathing and was under the supervision of an internal medicine expert at the Medanta Hospital, as per sources. Singh was suffering from a urinary infection as well, hospital sources had said.
On Sunday, Medanta Hospital had put out a health bulletin stating that the veteran leader’s condition was quite critical and that he was on life-saving drugs.
Condolences
As the news of the passing away of the veteran leader broke in, tributes started pouring in from across the country cutting across the party lines. Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the tributes, tweeting that Mulayam Singh Yadav’s death had left a huge loss in Indian politics.
President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari expressed condolences on the demise of Samajwadi Party leader and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Droupadi Murmu in a tweet in Hindi described Yadav as a tall grassroots level leader who rose to prominence from a simple background.
She further described the former defence minister as a leader with extraordinary abilities and said that his demise was a “great loss” to the nation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was pained by Yadav’s demise and recalled his long association with the socialist leader.
“I had many interactions with Mulayam Singh Yadav Ji when we served as Chief Ministers of our respective states. The close association continued and I always looked forward to hearing his views. His demise pains me. Condolences to his family and lakhs of supporters. Om Shanti,” he tweeted.
A humble and grounded leader
“He was widely admired as a humble and grounded leader who was sensitive to people’s problems. He served people diligently and devoted his life towards popularising the ideals of Loknayak JP and Dr. Lohia,” the Prime Minister tweeted further.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has condoled the demise of Samajwadi Party founder, Mulayam Singh Yadav and called him an icon of the socialist movement.
He wrote a letter to Akhilesh Yadav and expressed grief.
“He was a leader of high esteem who was respected by everybody irrespective of party lines. He was an Icon of the Socialist Movement and had been elected to the Uttar Pradesh State Assembly and to the Lok Sabha several times. He served as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and also Union Minister many times. He was a great Parliamentarian and a distinguished administrator who devoted his whole life to the service of the poor and other backward communities.”
“My wife joins me to convey to you and other members of your family our deepest condolences on this sad occasion. May God give all of you the strength to bear this great loss with courage and fortitude,” he added.
Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “Mulayam Singh Yadav was a stalwart Lohiaite but had admirers across political spectrum. His tenures as CM of UP were very consequential. He played a key national role on 2 occasions: Deve Gowda & Gujral govts as Defence Min,& in 2002 when he proposed APJ Abdul Kalam for President.”
Three-day mourning in UP
Meanwhile, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has condoled the demise of former CM Mulayam Singh Yadav, and declared a three-day mourning in the state as a mark of respect.
Yogi said in a statement that the death of Mulayam Singh Yadav marks the end of an era of leaders who believed in struggle and socialist ideology.
Former Defence Minister A K Antony, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Badal and Chief ministers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are among the prominent leaders who expressed shock and sorrow and sent condolences for the departed leader.
The last rites of the departed leader will be held with full state honours on Tuesday.
(With inputs from IANS)
