Socialist leader who stood tall
In an era when politics came to be dubiously described as union of strange bedfellows, Sharad Yadav had a roller coaster career but one who left his mark even in the peak era of coalitions. The seven-time MP who fought Lok Sabha elections from the three Hindi hinterlands of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, was instrumental in forging several alliances and saw friends turning into foes and then again returning back to forge partnerships.
Agriculturist, educationist and an engineer, Yadav, was born in July 1947, in Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh in a peasant family. Evincing keen interest in politics from his student days, he was influenced by socialists Jayprakash Narayan and Dr Ram Manohar Lohia. The one standout in his electoral career was his headlong plunge into the anti-Emergency movement and his election from Jabalpur as the candidate of the combined Opposition, defeating the Congress candidate.
The ferment in the national politics in the Hindi-speaking states saw the opposition in a constant state of flux. Yadav changed parties — from the Lok Dal during the Emergency period to forming the Janata Dal with the late Prime Minister V.P. Singh in 1988, and later forming the Janata Dal (United) in the late 1990s (when he parted ways with another former PM H.D. Deve Gowda) and the 2003 avatar with the late George Fernandes and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. However, he remained committed to his socialism credentials.
Among the durable faces in the galaxy of opposition leaders, Yadav had a five-decade career and was re-elected to several terms in the Lok Sabha — in 1977, 1989, 1991, 1996, 1999, and 2009, and Rajya Sabha — 1986 and 2004. He first entered the Union Council of Ministers when V.P. Singh became Prime Minister of a short-lived National Front government (1989–90), as Minister for Textiles and Food Processing.
After the split in the Janata Dal, he formed the JD(U) in the late 1990s and became a part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and was also the convenor of the alliance for some time. When Atal Behari Vajpayee became Prime Minister, Yadav served variously as Minister for Civil Aviation, Labour, Consumer Affairs, and Food and Public Distribution between the period 1999-2004.
He lost his Lok Sabha seat in the 2014 elections and two years later, he was replaced as president of the JD(U). The move set off a power struggle within the party, and in 2018, Yadav and his supporters formed Loktantrik Janata Dal. All this was resolved a couple of years later when he merged his new party with the Lalu Prasad Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal.
One bleak spot was his “sexist” stance on reservation of Lok Sabha seats for women. Considered a protege of veteran leader and deputy prime minister Devi Lal, he literally compared a woman’s honour with votes, raising political hackles. As controversy erupted, Yadav refused to back-off from his comment that came close on the heels of Bengaluru mass molestations during the new year celebrations. “I didn’t say anything wrong. We should love votes the same way we love daughters.” His comment was considered sickening and showed the place women occupy in the worldview of most Indian politicians. He also supported the Mandal Commission in the thick of its controversy.
He will also be remembered for the legal battles he fought towards the end of his political career – one challenging his disqualification from the Rajya Sabha, and the other challenging the government’s order to vacate his official accommodation in New Delhi, allotted to him while he was a member.
For someone who held many organisational posts in the party apparatus, his demise was announced by his daughter through a social media post. He had been ailing for quite some time. He leaves behind wife Dr Rekha and daughter Subhashini. His death on 12 January 2023, was condoled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and host of other leaders.
Raju Korti is a senior journalist with over four-decade experience of working in media institutions.