SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav gets Padma Vibhushan posthumously

Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party (SP) founder Mulayam Singh Yadav was awarded the Padma Vibhushan posthumously on Wednesday, March 22. Padma Vibhushan is India’s second highest civilian award by the Government of India and Mulayam was awarded the same in a ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.

Notably, the SP patriarch passed away at the age of 82 on October 10, 2022. 

Mulayam was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in the field of public affairs by the central government. The Ministry of Home Affairs had announced the Padma Awards on the eve of Republic Day on January 25, 2023. A total of six people were awarded the Padma Vibhushan, nine given the Padma Bhushan and 91 people the Padmi Shri in 2023 by the President of India.

SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav had served as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh for three terms, taking over the charge in the years 1989, 1993 and 2003. He founded the Samajwadi Party in 1992, and was one of the most prominent political leaders of the country.

During his political career spanning more than six decades, he also served as the Minister of Defence in the Union Government, apart from serving as the CM of UP. He was a seven-time Member of Parliament (MP) representing Mainpuri, Azamgarh, Sambhal and Kannauj constituencies of Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha. He was a 10-time member of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly.  

The veteran politician was a prominent figure of his time in Indian Politics, and was often referred to as “Netaji” and “Dhartiputra” by party leaders and Samajwadi Party workers. His electoral debut was in 1967 when, at the age of 27, he became an Uttar Pradesh MLA from Jaswant Nagar.