300-vehicle convoy carries Mulayam Yadav’s body, showered with flowers

A 300-strong convoy of vehicles stormed down the Yamuna Expressway in Uttar Pradesh Monday carrying the body of former chief minister and Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, who died earlier in the day after a prolonged illness. He was 82 years old.

A video of the outsized convoy speeding down the empty expressway was widely shared online and also showed people throwing flowers on some of the cars. The convoy was carrying the body to Saifai in UP’s Etawah, where he will be cremated 3 pm Tuesday.

Another video showed the ambulance carrying Mulayam Singh Yadav’s body stopping for petrol at a station near the Vrindavan exit, where his son, Akhilesh Yadav, was waiting.

Leaders across the political spectrum have paid tribute to Mulayam Singh Yadav, including prime minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah from the ruling BJP. President Droupadi Murmu also expressed grief and called his death was an ‘irreparable loss’ to India.

Modi said Mulayam Yadav was widely admired and was a ‘key soldier for democracy during the Emergency’. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi called him as ‘a true warrior of grassroots politics’.

As a mark of respect, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath has announced three-day state mourning and said the former SP leader’s last rites will be conducted with full state honours.

The veteran Samajwadi Party leader passed away Monday while undergoing treatment at Gurugram’s Medanta Hospital. His condition had been critical for the past few weeks and he was on life-saving drugs. Confirming the news of his father’s demise, Akhilesh Yadav tweeted, “Mere adarniya pitaji aur sabke netaji nahi rahe – Akhilesh Yadav.”

Mulayam Singh served as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh thrice and also served in the union government as the minister of Defence. He was elected 10 times as MLA and seven times as a Lok Sabha MP.