New Delhi: Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav was conferred the Padma Vibhushan posthumously on Wednesday. The SP patriarch passed away on October 10 at the age of 82.

Mulayam Singh Yadav was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in the field of public affairs

The Ministry of Home Affairs announced the Padma Awards on Wednesday, on the eve of the 74th Republic Day. Six people were awarded the Padma Vibhushan, nine were given the Padma Bhushan and 91 people will be awarded the Padmi Shri.

Mulayam Singh Yadav was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in the field of public affairs.

Yadav was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh for three terms – 1989, 1993 and 2003. He is widely recognised as the person behind the birth of the ‘third force’ in the state and as a ‘socialist’ and ‘secularist’ who successfully took on Hindutva politics.

He was also a seven-time Lok Sabha MP and 10-time MLA, and once Union defence minister in the United Front coalition government. His electoral debut happened in 1967 when, at the age of 27, he became an Uttar Pradesh MLA from Jaswant Nagar.

He founded the Samajwadi Party in 1992.