Lucknow: Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav was on Tuesday cremated with state honours in Uttar Pradesh's Saifai. For a last glimpse of their beloved Neta Ji (Read Mulayam Singh Yadav) over a lakh people thronged his ancestral village. From political bigwigs to film stars a large number of people from the adjoining district had come to pay last tributes to the former Chief Minister & Union Defense Minister who had been at the centre of UP’s politics for more than four decades.
Among the big shots who reached to attend the cremation were Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief Minister of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot, Telangana CM, K Chandrashekhar Rao, Chattishgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, Dy CM of Bihar Tejaswai Yadav and leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Khadge. From Maharashtra NCP Chief and former Union Minister Sharad Pawar his daughter MP Supriya Sule and former Union Minister Prafful Patel too arrived in Saifai to pay homage to Mulayam.
Mulayam Singh Yadav had passed away on Monday at Medanta Hospital in Gurugram after prolonged illness. His body was brought to native village Saifai in Etawah district of Uttar Pradesh on Monday evening. While UP CM Yogi Adityanath had arrived Saifai on Sunday to pay tributes to the late Samajwadi leader, both the Dy CMs in UP, Keshav Prasad Maurya, Brijesh Pathak, cabinet minister Jitin Prasad and state minister Aseem Arun were present during the cremation on Tuesday. Film star Abhishek Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) Chief Jayant Choudhury, Industrialist Anil Ambani and Baba Ramdeo too reached Saifai on Tuesday.
Former CM of Andhra Chandra Babu Naidu, Former Union Minister Menka Gandhi, MP Varun Gandhi, MP Rita Bahuguna Joshi and Devendra Singh Bhole along with president of Bhartiya Kisan Union Naresh Tikait had come to pay homage to Mulayam on Tuesday.
Despite bad weather over one lakh people had reached Saifai on Tuesday morning and as the crowd swelled Samajwadi MP Ram Gopal Yadav had to control it and request not to break the que for the last glimpse. When the last rites took place, a sea of people were chanting slogan Neta Ji Amar Rahein (Long Live Neta Ji) . The supporters of Mulayam from Kannauj district had brought truckloads for flowers and sandalwoods for the funeral pyre.
