Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav was cremated at🅰 his native village Saifai in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday.
Several thousands of people turned up to wit♓ness the funeral procession of Yadav, the founder of SP and a former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
A host of VIPs attended the funeral of Yadav, including top politicians from across the spectrum. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh,💛 Uttar Pradesh D✤eputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak were present there from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao, Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat and the Left party leader Sitaram Yechury were also present there. Industrialist Anim Ambaniw also attended the funeral.ꦚ
Yadav꧃ had been unwell for some time. He died at a private 𒁃hospital in Haryana's Gurugram on Monday. He was 82.
Yadav's body was brought to Saifai on Monday evening. A large number of peo⭕ple and dignitaries turned up for his funeral in Saifai on Tuesday.
People in large numbers were headed Tuesday for the last rites of ꦛYadav at his native village Saifai in Etawah district of Uttar Pradesh. The intermittent morning drizzle adding to the sombreness.
Yadav's mortal rem♉ains were brought to Saifai Monday evening and kept at his 'kothi' where thousands descended to pay their last respects to "Netaji", as Yadav was fondly called.
Party workers and people in their hundreds -- riding cycles, m🐽otorcycles, cars, SUVs and other means of transport -- were headed to Saifai from nearby areas Tuဣesday morning for the final rites.
In her condolence message, President Droupadi Murmu Monday described Yadav as "Dharti Putra" - a moniker bestowed on the socialist leader for his growth as a political heavyweight from the 🤡grassroots level.
"Yadav was hugely popular among the locals for his conenct wꦜith the masses," Manoj Mishra, a native of Etawah told PTI, reminiscing how 'Netaji' knew people♑ of the region by their first names.
As it drizzled Tuesday morning, hundreds of people queued ♉up outside Yadav's 'kothi' for his the final darshan.
Among them was a🌺 group of six men who had c♈ome from Chunar village in Mirzapur in eastern UP.
"We left village in an🃏 auto for Mirzapur railway station. Boarded a train at 11 pm and reached Etawah around 7 am,&qꦜuot; Babu Nandan Yadav told PTI after Yadav's darshan.
Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu and BJP leader Rita Bahuguna Joshi were among the le🔯aders who arrived early at the Saifai Mela Ground pandal here to pay their last resp🍎ects to Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav.
SP leader Dharmendra Yadav could not hold back his tears as he stood near the socialist leader꧙'s cof﷽fin
Naidu, also the former Andhra Pradesh chief minister, termed Yadav'𝕴s demise a &quo♊t;loss for Uttar Pradesh".
Joshi said Yadav never cons💖idered his political opponents as enemies and that he shared a personal bond with every leader.
The other leaders who paid their tributes to 'netaji' were his son and incumbent SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, Yadav's brother and Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) founder Shivpal Yadav, senior SP leaders Ramgopal Yadav, Swami Prasad Maurya, Dharmendra Yad🦩av, Ram Gobind Chaudhary, Kiranmoy Nanda, and Om Prakash Singh.
Veteran SP leader Azam Kh𓆉an also paid his last respects to the former chief minister.
(With PTI inputs)
