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Mulayam Singh Yadav: The three-time UP CM was the ‘Dhartiputra’ of national politics

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He was known as ‘Dhartiputra’ and remained a true son of the soil. His style of politics was firmly grounded and success and failure did not affect him.

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

For him, the last man in the line remained important – whether it was from his family, his village or his state. He was a friend of friends and even turned his foes into friends.

Mulayam Singh had first contested the Assembly election from Karhal in 1967 on Ram Manohar Lohia’s Samyukta Socialist Party ticket.

Groomed by the likes of Ram Manohar Lohia and Raj Narain, Yadav served eight terms as the member of the state Assembly.

In 1975, during Indira Gandhi’s imposition of the Emergency, Yadav was arrested and kept in custody for 19 months.

He first became a state minister in 1977. Later, in 1980, he became the president of the Lok Dal in Uttar Pradesh which later became a part of the Janata Dal.

In 1982, he was elected leader of the opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council and held that post until 1985. When the Lok Dal party split, Yadav launched the Krantikari Morcha party.

Mulayam Singh Yadav first became the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1989.

Being a shrewd politician, he had the uncanny knack of sensing the upheavals in politics.

After the collapse of the V.P. Singh national government in November 1990, Yadav joined Chandra Shekhar’s Janata Dal (Socialist) party and continued in office as the chief minister with the support of the Congress.

His government fell when the Congress withdrew support in April 1991 and Mulayam Singh lost to the BJP in the midterm elections.

In 1992, Yadav founded his own Samajwadi Party and then allied with the Bahujan Samaj Party for the elections to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, held in November 1993.

The alliance between the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party prevented the return of the BJP to power in the state and Yadav became the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh with the support of Congress and Janata Dal.

Mulayam’s stand on the movement for demanding separate statehood for Uttarakhand was as much controversial as his stand on Ayodhya movement in 1990 was.

The firing on Ayodhya activists and then Uttarakhand activists at Muzaffarnagar on October 2, 1994 remained black spots of his regime.

In 1995, the SP-BSP alliance broke with the infamous State Guest House incident but Mulayam Singh Yadav made sure that his party bounced back to power in 2003.

He was sworn in as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh for the third time in September 2003.

Yadav contested the 2004 Lok Sabha elections from Mainpuri while he was still Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. However, he later resigned from the Lok Sabha and continued as chief minister till 2007 when the SP lost to the BSP in the state elections.

Mulayam Singh Yadav was one of the few politicians who blatantly promoted nepotism and had no qualms about it. At any given time, there were about a dozen family members in politics in Uttar Pradesh.

“He always pushed us into politics and asked us to make a career for ourselves. It was always he who decided what was best for us and took keen interest in our careers,” said one of his nephews.

Mulayam Singh valued his friends deeply. Whether it was Beni Prasad Varma, or Azam Khan or Mohan Singh or Janeshwar Mishra – each one had a special place in his life.

His war with Balram Singh Yadav and Darshan Singh Yadav in Etawah had acquired legendary proportions, but Mulayam, over a period of time, managed to change his equations and both became his friends.

Mulayam shared a love-hate relationship with the media. His famous ‘Halla Bol’ agitation against some newspapers grabbed national headlines.

However, Mulayam made sure that his individual relationship with journalists never deteriorated. Even if he ticked off a scribe for his writing, he made sure to call out to him and mend fences at the earliest.

For party workers, he remained their beloved ‘Netaji’ – one who was always approachable and available.

“I do not remember a single occasion when I went to meet Mulayam Singh and came back without doing so. He remembered even the smallest party worker by name and it was this that endeared him to everyone,” said a senior party MLA.

Mulayam Singh Yadav was one chief minister who enjoyed full loyalty from his bureaucrats. He took tough decisions and his officers implemented them. In fact, many claim that the politicisation of bureaucracy began only after Mulayam became the chief minister.

In the past five years, after Akhilesh Yadav took over the reins of the party, Mulayam had withdrawn into a shell.

The changing dynamics in the party reduced the stream of visitors into a trickle and Mulayam – for the first time, became a lonely man.

“He would often ask us if there was anyone waiting to meet him. He loved going to the party office and relished the hustle-bustle there. At home, he had almost nothing to do and this bothered him,” said one of his close staff members.

Mulayam was disturbed by the recent happenings in his family — daughter-in-law Aparna joining the BJP, the split between son Akhilesh and brother Shivpal. He made no public mention of it but it was clear that he was deeply affected by what was happening.

The demise of his second wife Sadhana Gupta Yadav in July this year, sources say, left Mulayam distressed and lonely and this led to a deterioration in his physical condition.

Crime

Delhi Police bust interstate auto theft syndicate, recover eight high end cars

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New Delhi, May 30: The Delhi Police Crime Branch has busted an interstate syndicate involved in the theft and resale of high-end vehicles, a statement said on Friday.

The gang used a sophisticated modus operandi to sell stolen cars through online platforms by forging documents, opening bank accounts with fake identities, and tampering with engine and chassis numbers.

In a series of coordinated operations, the police arrested a key member of the gang and recovered eight luxury vehicles.

According to Delhi Police, the breakthrough came with the arrest of Rakesh Patel alias Pappu (38), a core operative of the syndicate, near Sahibabad Railway Station in Ghaziabad on April 21, 2025.

Acting on a tip-off, police apprehended him while he was attempting to sell a stolen Maruti Wagon-R via an online platform.

Patel, a resident of Sahibabad, Ghaziabad (UP), and originally from Mohiuddin Nagar, Samastipur (Bihar), played a central role in managing theft operations and delivering stolen vehicles across states.

His associates arranged vehicles, counterfeit documents, and fake number plates.

The gang’s method was notably elaborate. After stealing a car, they searched online car-selling portals for vehicles of the same make, model, and colour.

Using open-source information, they identified details of genuine owners and forged documents in the owner’s name — featuring the photograph of one of the accused. They also opened bank accounts using these fake identities.

To avoid detection, the syndicate would tamper with the stolen car’s engine and chassis numbers to match those of the legitimate vehicle. Fake Registration Certificates (RCs) were then prepared, making the stolen car appear genuine. Once the vehicle was thus ‘cloned,’ it was listed for sale on online platforms.

The syndicate targeted high-demand vehicles, often choosing cars parked in low-surveillance or roadside areas. The police noted the gang’s use of advanced technological tools to support their operations.

A team led by Inspector Arun Sindhu of the Crime Branch spearheaded the investigation, which led to the arrest and recovery of the stolen vehicles.

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Crime

Five killed in blast at illegal firecracker factory in Punjab’s Muktsar

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Chandigarh, May 30: At least five people were killed and 34 injured on Friday in a blast at a double-storey illegal firecracker factory located on the outskirts of a village in Punjab’s Muktsar district, police said.

Most of the victims were migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

The factory, owned by Tarsem Singh, who is associated with the state-ruled AAP, in Singhwala village, was reduced to rubble owing to the intensity of the blast, trapping many under debris.

According to the police, the blast occurred at midnight. The injured were taken to nearby hospitals, including All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bathinda, and most of them were stated to be out of danger.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Muktsar Sahib, Akhil Chaudhary, said the blast occurred in one of the rooms in the manufacturing setup of the unit, which led to the collapse of the roof.

Many people got trapped under the debris, and rescue operations were launched immediately after the police received information about the incident.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Jaspal Singh said five bodies had been recovered from the debris, and 29 injured individuals were rushed to AIIMS Bathinda and hospitals in Muktsar.

Rescue teams were still on the scene, working to clear the rubble and search for survivors, if any.

The exact cause of the blast is being worked out, but initial investigation suggests that the blast occurred from potash used in manufacturing crackers.

Muktsar Deputy Commissioner Abhijit Kaplish told the media that no permission was granted to the manufacturing unit under the Explosives Rules of 2008.

“An application was made by the owners, but reports from different departments were pending, so no permission was granted,” he clarified.

Scattered shoes, broken glass panes and vehicles were seen all over the accident spot, as rescuers were sifting through the rubble in search of survivors.

Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Badal has demanded a probe into the incident and urged the government to promptly release adequate compensation to the victims’ families.

Describing the incident as unfortunate, Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Khudian said the factory owner is a supporter of the AAP, but that does not permit anyone to engage in illegal activity.

“The law will take its own course,” he added.

In 2020, a total of 23 people were killed and 27 were injured in the explosion in an illegal firecracker manufacturing unit in Punjab’s Batala town. It was manufacturing and storing crackers for a ‘nagar kirtan’ — a religious procession relating to the birth anniversary celebrations of Sikhism’s founder, Guru Nanak Dev.

A similar blast occurred in Batala in January 2017, leaving one person dead and three injured.

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National News

Maharashtra attracts 40 per cent of country’s total investment in 2024-25

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Mumbai, May 30: Maharashtra, under the Mahayuti government, has consolidated its position as India’s investment magnet by attracting foreign investment worth Rs 1,64,875 crore in 2024-25, which accounts for 40 per cent of the total investment received by the country this year.

According to the state government, Maharashtra continues to be the most favoured investment destination due to a business-friendly environment, dedicated sectoral facilities and availability of the highest employable workforce (70 per cent).

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, “I am extremely delighted to share that the figures for the last quarter (January to March 2025) of the financial year 2024-25 have now been released, and for the entire year, Maharashtra has attracted foreign investment worth Rs 1,64,875 crore. This accounts for 40 per cent of the total investment received by the country this year. The total investment in the country this year amounts to Rs 4,21,929 crore.”

“Compared to last year, Maharashtra has seen a 32 per cent increase in investment this year. In this final quarter, Maharashtra attracted Rs 25,441 crore in foreign investment. This year has set a record for Maharashtra, surpassing the past 10 years. We had already broken this record in the first nine months. I wholeheartedly congratulate the people of Maharashtra,” CM Fadnavis said.

Retaining the number one slot has come as a shot in the arm for the Maharashtra government as it has an ambitious target of becoming a $1 trillion economy by 2030 and $5 trillion by 2047. The state economy has already crossed the $500 billion mark.

The Industry Department sources said Maharashtra has formulated industry and sector-specific policies and consistently updates its incentives and offerings to align with the evolving global economic dynamics and business scenarios.

“Maharashtra continues to lead the way as a top investment destination in India. The Retail Trade Policy 2016, Maharashtra Electronics Policy 2016, Aerospace and Defence Policy 2018, and Industrial Policy 2019 are under the government’s active consideration for review to keep pace with the changing investment scenario. In addition, the government proposes to come up with the Circular Economy Policy, MSME Policy, and Leather and Footwear Policy. The state has crossed $500 billion in GDP, surpassing the GDP of several countries like Singapore and Austria, as well as Indian states like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka,” the sources added.

Further, the government has enacted ‘The Maharashtra Industry, Trade and Investment Facilitation Act’ on July 3, 2023, to create a strong, healthy and effective ecosystem for industrial development and further boost the investments in the state.

The Maharashtra Industry, Trade and Investment Facilitation (MATRI) cell aims to serve as the first point of reference for potential investors coming to the state.

Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Ajit Pawar asserted that the record-breaking investment is not merely a matter of rising financial numbers, but proof of the global trust in Maharashtra.

“Now, as investment has increased, employment opportunities will also grow, new industries will be established, while further opening up new opportunities,” he said.

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