Mulayam Singh Yadav's complete family tree explained

New Delhi, Oct 10: The sudden demise of Mulayam Singh Yadav, an astute politician who once nursed PM ambitions, has left many heart broken.

Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav died on Monday in Medanta hospital in Gurugram, where he was undergoing treatment. Mulayam, 82, was admitted in the hospital since August and was shifted in ICU on October 2 and had been on lifesaving drugs since.'

Here are lesser-known facts about Mulayam Singh Yadav that you probably didn't know:

The Veteran Samajwadi leader was born on 22 November 1939 to Murti Devi and Sughar Singh Yadav on 22 November 1939 in Saifai village, Etawah district, Uttar Pradesh. He served for three non-consecutive terms as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, and also served as the Minister of Defence, Government of India.

Yadav had three degrees in political science - a B.A. from Karm Kshetra Post Graduate College in Etawah, a B.T. from A. K. College in Shikohabad, and an M.A. from B. R. College, Agra University.

Short in height and high on a political drive, Yadav was 28 years old when he was elected as an MLA for the first time in 1967. Mulayam Singh's political career lasted over five decades. He was elected 10 times as MLA and 7 times as Lok Sabha MP. He was a long-serving parliamentarian who was serving as the Member of Parliament for the Lok Sabha constituency from Mainpuri till his death. He previously served as the Member of Parliament for Azamgarh and Sambhal constituencies.

Mulayam, often referred to as Netaji, was first elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly in the Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh in 1967.

Mulayam Singh entered public life promising to fight dynastic rule and feudalism. Now five decades later, a dozen members of his clan are in politics.

Mulayam Singh Yadav has 4 brothers and a sister Kamla Devi. Ram Gopal Yadav and his sister Geeta Devi are his cousins.

Mulayam was younger than Ratan Singh and elder than Abhay Ram, Shivpal, Ram Gopal Singh and Kamala Devi among his five siblings.

He was one of the last of his generation of politicians who kept his values intact and did not corporatize his politics.

The 82-year-old former Uttar Pradesh chief minister married Malti Devi for the first time. Akhilesh Yadav is the son of Mulayam and Malti Devi. Mulayam's second marriage took place with Sadhna Gupta. Prateek Yadav is the son of Sadhna and Mulayam. Mulayam had a relationship with Sadhana Gupta while still married to Malti Devi in the 1990s. Gupta was not well known until February 2007, when the relationship was admitted in Supreme Court. Sadhana Gupta has a son named Prateek Yadav (born 1988), from her first marriage.

Prateek's wife Aparna Bisht Yadav (born 1990) joined BJP in 2022 whereas elder daughter-in-law Dimple was elected to Parliament. Sadhana Gupta died in July 2022 after a brief illness.

Akhilesh Yadav, the elder son, is the national president of the SP, a representative from Karhal in Mainpuri, and the leader of the opposition in the UP Legislative Assembly at the moment.

The Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party's President and MLA for SP from Jaswant Nagar is Bhai Shivpal Singh Yadav (Lohia).

Ram Gopal Yadav, a cousin, is a Rajya Sabha member.

Akshay Yadav, Ram Gopal's son and Mulayam's nephew, served as a former member of parliament from Firozabad.

Former Badaun MP Dharmendra Yadav is a nephew.

In 2017, Anurag Yadav was unsuccessful in his bid to represent Sarojini Nagar.

Tej Pratap Yadav, a former MP from Mainpuri, is Mulayam's grandson.

Abhishek Yadav, also known as Anshul Yadav, is Etawah's District Panchayat President.

The family tree of Mulayam Singh Yadav family is as follows:

Ratan Singh Yadav (eldest brother)
Ranvir Singh Yadav (nephew)
Tej Pratap Singh Yadav (grandnephew)
Mulayam Singh Yadav (himself)
Akhilesh Yadav (son)
Prateek Yadav (stepson)
Abhay Ram Yadav (younger brother)
Dharmendra Yadav (nephew)
Anurag Yadav (nephew)
Rajpal Singh Yadav (younger brother)
Abhishek Yadav (nephew)
Aryan Yadav (nephew)
Shivpal Singh Yadav (youngest brother)
Aditya Yadav (nephew)
Ram Gopal Yadav (cousin)
Akshay Yadav (son of Ram Gopal)

Family feud

Since the young Akhilesh Yadav became Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 2012, surpassing Mulayam's brother Shivpal Singh Yadav, the Yadav family was divided into two feuding groups. One of the groups, led by Akhilesh, enjoyed the support of his father's cousin and National General Secretary Ram Gopal Yadav.

The rival group was led by Mulayam Singh and supported by his brother and State Chief of Party, Shivpal Yadav, and a friend, former MP Amar Singh. Akhilesh had fired his uncle twice from his cabinet as it was seen by many as a direct challenge to his father, who has steadily supported Shivpal over Akhilesh.

On 30 December 2016, Mulayam Yadav expelled his son Akhilesh and his cousin Ram Gopal from the party for six years on the grounds of indiscipline, only to revoke the decision 24 hours later. Akhilesh, in response, stripped his father off the party presidency and instead named him the chief patron of the party following the national convention of the party on 1 January 2017.

Mulayam termed the national convention as illegal and directly expelled his cousin, Ram Gopal Yadav, who had convened the national executive convention. But the Election commission of India ruled that Ram Gopal Yadav had the right to convene that executive convention, and reversed Mulayam's order. Hence Akhilesh Yadav officially became the new national leader of the party.