Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav's office has confirmed that last rites of Mulayam Singh Yadav will be held at Saifai, his ancestral village in Uttar Pradesh. UP CM Yogi Adityanath has said that the last rites of the veteran politician will be held with full state honours.
Popularly referred to as "Netaji" ('Dear Leader') by Samajwadi Party supporters, he had also served as the country's Defence Minister. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his condolences, said that Mulayam Singh Yadav was a key soldier for democracy during the Emergency, which imposed by the then Congress government in the mid-1970s.