Prominent socialist leader Sharad Yadav is no more. He died on Thursday (January 12) in a hospital in Gurugram. His daughter Subhashini Sharad Yadav informed about the death of Sharad Yadav, who made a mark in national politics from student politics, through Twitter. Subhashini Sharad Yadav tweeted and wrote – Papa is no more. Sharad Yadav was admitted to Fortis Hospital in Gurugram, adjacent to Delhi.
Sharad Yadav played a long innings in politics. Sharad Yadav, who came out of the socialist movement and entered the national politics, hoisted his flag on the Hindi heartland of India and became a strong signature of the politics of the Hindi heartland. Sharad Yadav was born on July 1, 1947, in Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh, just a few days before the country’s independence, but his workplaces were Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Born in a farmer’s family, Sharad Yadav was interested in education since childhood. When it came to higher education, Sharad Yadav chose engineering as his profession. Sharad Yadav got his admission done in the famous engineering college of Jabalpur, MP. It was in this college that young Sharad learned the ropes of politics. At that time student politics was on the rise in the country. Sharad Yadav was elected president of the student union in this college.
However, while climbing the political ladder, Sharad Yadav did not let his studies get affected. He won Gold Medal in BE Civil. Sharad Yadav was married to Rekha Yadav on 15 February 1989. They both have a son and a daughter.
In 1974, when the student movement was going on in the country, he was 27 years old. Meanwhile, Jai Prakash Narayan sent him to contest the by-election from Jabalpur Lok Sabha constituency. Sharad Yadav got victory in this by-election and his political career formally started from here. In 1977, he once again won the election from this seat.
Was influenced by Lohia’s ideas
Sharad Yadav was influenced by the thoughts of socialist leader Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia. Inspired by him, Sharad Yadav took part in many political movements. He was detained under MISA during the Emergency in 1969-70, 1972, and 1975. Sharad Yadav was a big leader of OBC politics. He also played an important role in getting the recommendations of the Mandal Commission implemented.
Sharad came to Uttar Pradesh from MP
Sharad Yadav was emerging fast in politics. In 1978, he became the President of Yuva Lok Dal. In 1981, Sharad Yadav’s politics shifted from Madhya Pradesh to Uttar Pradesh.
Till then Sharad Yadav had come close to former PM Chaudhary Charan Singh. He had to face defeat in 1980. But when the by-election was held in Amethi in 1981 after the death of Sanjay Gandhi, Sharad Yadav stood against Rajiv Gandhi in this election. He had to face defeat badly in this election.
Now departure from UP towards Bihar
Sharad Yadav won the election from Badaun Lok Sabha seat in 1989 on a Janata Dal ticket. Sharad Yadav was the Textile and Food Minister in 1989-90. After this Sharad Yadav started his journey of parliamentary politics from Bihar. Sharad Yadav contested from Madhepura seat in Bihar and won elections from this seat in 1991, 1996, 1999 and 2009. From this seat, he also had to face defeat 4 times. Lalu Yadav defeated Sharad Yadav. First in 1998 and again in 2004. Then Pappu Yadav defeated him in 2014. In 2019, Dinesh Yadav of JDU defeated Sharad Yadav.
Sharad Yadav was elected the working president of Janata Dal in 1995. After this he became the National President of Janata Dal in 1997. He was the Minister of Civil Aviation from 13 October 1999 to 31 August 2001. After this, from 1 September 2001 to 30 June 2002, Sharad Yadav was elected cabinet minister in the Ministry of Labour. In 2004, he was again elected Rajya Sabha MP and became a member of several committees including the Home Ministry.
When there was a rift with Nitish
Sharad Yadav was once considered the charioteer of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. But Nitish Kumar kept moving forward in Bihar politics and due to many reasons Sharad Yadav could not keep pace with Nitish’s growing power. There was a confrontation between the two veteran socialists. The estrangement increased. After this, Sharad Yadav revolted from JDU in 2018 and formed his own political party named Loktantrik Janata Dal.
But Sharad Yadav’s party did not get much success. This star of socialism was away from parliamentary politics at present. Was seen with Rahul Gandhi a few months ago. But he used to keep a close watch on the political and social movements of the country and he used to continuously give his feedback on the issues related to them.