In 1967, Dal Singh Yadav was elected from Jalalabad in the Shahjahanpur district on a ticket from the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), while Mulayam Singh Yadav was elected from Jaswant Nagar in Etawah district on a ticket from the Samyukta Socialist Party (SSP). “He was unique, there was no other leader like him.” In 1967, Mulayam Singh Yadav was elected to the State Assembly for the first time. Dal Singh Yadav, the lone surviving MLA from that election, described his interactions with Mulayam Singh Yadav in this way. Mulayam Singh Yadav would later found the Samajwadi Party 25 years later.

“We were from different parties but similar backgrounds. I first met him in the Assembly in March 1967… We were of the same age, around 28, and maintained a friendship ever since,” Dal Singh, now 83 and “ten months older” hours after the SP leader passed away in a Delhi hospital, a source who was closer to Mulayam told The Indian Express.

In 1967, Mulayam was elected from Jaswant Nagar in the Etawah district on a ticket from the Samyukta Socialist Party (SSP), and Dal Singh was elected from Jalalabad in the Shahjahanpur district on a ticket from the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS). That year, Dal Singh had defeated Mulayam, a candidate for the Republican Party of India, as well as a candidate for the Congress (RPI). However, two years later, at the midterm elections, they both lost their seats.

“In that Assembly (of 1967), Chandra Bhanu Gupta was sworn in as Chief Minister at first but less than three weeks later, Chaudhary Charan Singh took oath as Chief Minister of the Samyukta Vidhayak Dal government. Mulayam and I were not made ministers but we spoke frequently on the issues of agriculture and rural poverty on which we were in agreement. Chaudhary saheb (Charan Singh) often appreciated our views. Those days, Charan Singh was a stalwart and we were beginners…we studied Chaudhary saheb’s books and speeches on various issues,” Dal Singh stated.

When asked about the characteristics of Mulayam that he admired, he responded, “He was always ready to help anyone from any party. He never said ‘no’ to work. Once you are in contact with him, he becomes your friend forever.” In 1967 and 1974, Dal Singh served as Jalalabad’s representative for the BJS, the BJP’s predecessor.