On way to Saifai, Samajwadi Party workers accord tearful farewell to Mulayam Singh Yadav

LUCKNOW: The news of the demise of Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav on Monday morning was received with grief and sorrow across the political spectrum.
As senior politicians took to Twitter and rushed to Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon to pay their respect to the departed soul, party workers lined up at more than 50 locations along the Yamuna and Agra Expressways to catch the last glimpse of their leader as his mortal remains were taken by road to Saifai where the cremation is slated to be held on Tuesday.

According to sources, Mulayam passed away at 8.16am when both his sons – Akhilesh and Prateek – were present at Medanta. Shortly thereafter, the family was joined by Shivpal Yadav and Ram Gopal Yadav.
Akhilesh’s wife and former MP Dimple Yadav and her children also joined them. As the news spread, senior SP leaders and party workers started reaching the hospital in large numbers. It was not before 9.41am that the SP chief could gather himself and use the party’s Twitter handle to make a formal announcement about Mulayam’s death.
Among the first senior politicians to reach Medanta in Gurugram was Union home minister Amit Shah, who placed a wreath on the mortal remains of the SP patriarch and spoke to Akhilesh, offering condolences on Mulayam’s death.
Initially, keeping in mind the association that Netaji has had with Lucknow – the place where he formally launched his party at Begum Hazrat Mahal Park in 1992 and had the party headquarters apart from his long stay owing to his political engagements, SP leadership decided to first fly Mulayam’s mortal remains to the state capital where it was scheduled to be kept as SP headquarters. Party leaders and workers also started gathering at party headquarters.
However, keeping in mind the possibility of flight delays because of poor visibility due to prevailing weather conditions, the SP leadership decided to head directly to Saifai by road.
An ambulance carrying Mulayam’s body followed by Akhilesh and his son Arjun, the patriarch’s younger son Pratik Yadav, Shivpal Yadav, Ram Gopal Yadav and a host of other party leaders took the Yamuna Expressway route to reach Agra Expressway to reach Saifai. By the time the convoy covered 5km on the expressway, what began as a fleet of cars turned into a three-kilometre-long convoy as senior leaders and hundreds of party workers joined in.
The motorcade stopped at over 50 spots where people had gathered in large numbers to shower flower petals on the ambulance carrying their leader’s mortal remains. At every stop, Akhilesh got out of his car, spoke to the people and asked them to reach Saifai to have a closer look at their leader.