Mulayam Singh Yadav funeral: SP patriarch cremated in Uttar Pradesh's Saifai

Lucknow, Oct 11: Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, fondly called 'Netaji' cremated on Tuesday. The last rites of Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav was performed at his ancestral village Saifai in Etawah district on Tuesday. The veteran politician passed away on Monday after a brief illness.

A sea of people descended on Tuesday for the last rites of veteran socialist leader Mulayam Singh Yadav at his native Saifai village in Etawah district of Uttar Pradesh.

The funeral event, which is likely to be held at 3 pm, will be reportedly attended by several Union Ministers and state chief ministers along with the Speaker of Lok Sabha, Om Birla.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Chhattisgarh counterpart Bhupesh Baghel, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and many other leaders will be attending the funeral. It is still unclear whether Rahul Gandhi or Priyanka Gandhi will be attending the event.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced a three-day state mourning as a mark of respect to Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Born on November 22, 1939 into a farming family, the SP founder was elected an MLA 10 times and an MP, mostly from Mainpuri and Azamgarh, seven times. He served as the defence minister from 1996 to 1998 in HD Deve Gowda's United Front government, and became chief minister of Uttar Pradesh thrice- 1989-91, 1993-95, and 2003-07.

The funeral will take place with full state honours in Safai on Tuesday afternoon. The village falls in Jaswantnagar, the constituency from where he was elected to the state assembly the first time in 1967, representing Ram Manohar Lohia's Sanyukt Socialist Party.

In her condolence message, President Draupadi Murmu said Yadav's achievements were extraordinary. "'Dharti Putra' Mulayam ji was a veteran leader and was connected with the land. He was respected by people from all parties," she tweeted in Hindi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Yadav served people diligently and devoted his life towards popularising the ideals of Jayaprakash Narayan and Lohia. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, whose Bharat Jodo Yatra is now passing through Karnataka, led a five-minute prayer meeting for Yadav.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah drove to the Gurugram hospital to meet Akhilesh Yadav and other family members. Congress leader Rajiv Shukla and JD(U)'s K C Tyagi too visited the hospital.