Top leaders among lakhs at Mulayam’s last rites in Saifai

Yadav’s mortal remains were kept in the Saifai mela ground where the Saifai Mahotsav used to take place during the SP governments in the state.

Later in the afternoon, his remains were carried in a ‘rath’ for his last rites amid chants of “Netaji Amar Rahe (Long live Netaji)” by a sea of followers and SP workers. Patanjali Ayurveda founder Ramdev and Tejaswi Yadav were seen accompanying SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on the vehicle as it made way to the funeral ground.

Those who attended the last rites included defence minister Rajnath Singh, Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla, senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Kamal Nath and Pramod Tiwari, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, chief ministers of Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel. Telangana CM KC Rao, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, deputy CMs of UP Brajesh Pathak and Keshav Prasad Maurya and deputy chief minister of Bihar Tejaswi Yadav were also present, as were Sahara India founder Subrata Roy, BJP MP Rita Bahuguna Joshi, SP MP Jaya Bachchan along with actor-son Abhishek Bachchan and BJP MP Varun Gandhi.

Defence minister Singh told media persons that he had “very good relations” with Yadav and that he was there in Saifai to pay him his last tributes. “I also placed a wreath on behalf of PM Narendra Modi since he was away and asked me to pay respects on his behalf,” said Singh. “The relations (between us) were such that if he was sitting in parliament on the side of the opposition and I was sitting on the other side, he would often get up and come and sit beside me and talk about old times. He was not concerned about the seating arrangement of the ruling side and opposition… (his demise) is a huge loss to Indian politics.”

Locals spoke highly about the former UP CM and re-pledged support to the party and the family, with many also saying that Yadav’s death resulted in a revival of support to the party. “We will stand by the next generation of the family and we pledge to walk on the path laid by him,” Sukhvir Singh Yadav, 64, told ET.