Wrestler Mulayam meets his nemesis in Dalit's daughter

Lucknow, May 11 (UNI) Mulayam Singh Yadav, who always cashed in on the votebase of Muslims and Yadavs, today met his pemises in teacher-turned-politician Mayawati, who for the first time piggybacked on Brahmins and, of course, Dalits in this Uttar Pradesh assembly polls to oust him from power.

Ironically, Mulayam rose to power for a third time in August 2003 after Mayawati resigned as chief minister following differences with her saffron ally. Mulayam today conceded defeat after the BSP supremo for the first time romped home with an absolute majority on her own.

The 68-year-old Mulayam Singh Yadav has been repeatedly elected to the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly since 1965 and today resigned as the chief minister of the state following the rout his party received at the hands of Mayawati, whose distaste for the former wrestler from Etawah is well-chronicled.

He first donned the mantle of a state minister in 1977 and in 1980, he went on to become the president of the Lok Dal (People's Party) in Uttar Pradesh. Later, the Lok Dal became a part of the Janata Dal (People's Party). In 1982, he was elected leader of the opposition in the Uttar Pradesh legislative council.

His first tryst with power began when he became Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1989 with the support of BJP. However, his relations with the BJP came under great strain because of his fierce opposition to the Ram Janmabhumi Movement because of its perceived sectarian implications.

When the then BJP President LK Advani set out on his Rath Yatra, Mulayam Singh Yadav declared that his government would not allow Advani's yatra to reach Ayodhya as his government viewed it as an attempt to foment sectarian tensions between Hindus and Muslims.

After the collapse of the V P Singh government at the Centre in November 1990, Mulayam Singh Yadav joined Chandrashekhar's Janata Dal (Socialist) party and continued in office as chief minister with the support of Congress.

His government fell when the Congress withdrew support to his government in April 1991 in reaction to the aftermath of developments at the Centre when Congress withdrew support to the Chandra Shekhar government.

Mid-term elections to Uttar Pradesh assembly were held in mid 1991, in which Mulayam Singh's party did not fare as desired by him.

On October 7,1992, he founded his own Samajwadi Party(Socialist Party). In 1993, he tied up with the Bahujan Samaj Party for the elections to Uttar Pradesh assembly in November 1993.

The truck roadblocked the return of BJP to power in the state.

Though the alliance did not win the majority, Mulayam could become chief minister of Uttar Pradesh with the support of Congress and Janata Dal. His stand on movement for demanding separate statehood for Uttarakhand was as much controversial as his stand on teh Ayodhya movement in 1990.

There was firing on Uttarakhand activists at Muzaffarnagar on October 2,1994 , something for which Uttarakhand activists held him responsible. He continued holding that post until his ally opted into another alliance in June 1995.

In 1996, he was elected to the 11th Lok Sabha from Mainpuri constituency in Uttar Pradesh. His party joinedthe United Front coalition government formed that year and he was named Defence Minister. But the government fell in 1998 as the country went for fresh elections, but he returned to the Lok Sabha that year from Sambhal parliamentary constituency.

After the fall of Vajpayee government at the Centre in April 1999, he did not support the Congress in the formation of the government. He contested Lok Sabha elections of 1999 from two seats-- Sambhal and Kannauj and won from both. He resigned from Kannauj seat, which was later won by his son Akhilesh Yadav in the by-elections. In 2002, following a fluid post-election situation in Uttar Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party and Bahujan Samaj Party tied up to form a government under Mayawati.

After a one-and-a-half year stint, the BJP pulled out of the government on August 25,2003, and enough rebel legislators of the Bahujan Samaj Party left to allow Mulayam to become the Chief Minister, with the support of Independents and small parties. Mulayam was sworn in as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for a third time on August 29, 2003.

When he became Chief Minister, Mulayam was a member of the Lok Sabha. To continue as the CM, he contested the assembly by-election from Gunnur assembly seat in January 2004.

He won by a record margin and polled around 92 per cent of the total votes. His victory margin of 183,899 votes is the highest margin of victory in assembly elections so far.

Mulayam represents the Yaduvanshi Kshatriya (Yadav) caste, which is large, influential backward community with a strong presence in Uttar Pradesh and neighboring Bihar. The main support base of his Samajwadi Party are Yadav, Muslim and other backward caste communities.

UNI