Mulayam Singh Yadav
Three-time Uttar Pradesh chief minister, Union defence minister and founder of the Samajwadi Party, honoured posthumously with the Padma Vibhushan in 2023.
Mulayam Singh Yadav was a politician who served three times as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and once as Union defence minister. He was named for the Padma Vibhushan posthumously in 2023 in the field of public affairs, from Uttar Pradesh [1].
A long political career
Yadav was born on 22 November 1939 [2]. Over a public life of about 55 years he contested some 23 elections to the Lok Sabha and the Uttar Pradesh assembly [2]. During the Emergency he spent 18 months in jail [2]. In 1992 he founded the Samajwadi Party, bringing together socialist groups from across the country [2].
In office
As chief minister of Uttar Pradesh he abolished octroi for small traders and removed the requirement of English in the state’s competitive examinations [2]. His governments started a scheme called Kanya Vidyadhan to support girls’ education, and announced pensions for people who had been jailed during the Emergency [2]. As defence minister, he decided that the bodies of soldiers killed on the border should be returned to their families [2].
He was known for being easy for ordinary people to approach, and received an International Jurist Award from the International Council of Jurists in England [2]. He died on 10 October 2022 [2].
Sources
- [1] Padma Awards 2023: list of awardees — Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Accessed 21 October 2026.
- [2] Padma Awards 2023: citation for Mulayam Singh Yadav — Padma Awards, Government of India. Accessed 21 October 2026.
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