PM Modi to attend former SP MP Harmohan Singh Yadav death anniversary

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the event marking the 10th death anniversary of former Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Harmohan Singh Yadav on Monday at 4:30 pm via video conferencing.
PM Modi's participation is in recognition of the great contribution of the late leader of the Yadav community to farmers, backward classes and other sections of the society. Singh was a towering figure and leader of the Yadav community. He remained active in politics for a long time. His son Sukhram Singh Yadav was also a former Rajya Sabha MP.
He was born on October 18, 1921, in 'Meharban Singh Ka Purva' village of Kanpur. He entered into politics when he was 31 years old. He became village 'pradhan' in 1952.
He served in various capacities including as MLC and MLA in Uttar Pradesh from 1970 to 1990. In 1991, he was elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha for the first time and served as a member of several parliamentary committees.
In 1997, he was nominated as a member of the Rajya Sabha for the second time. He also served as the national chairman of 'Akhil Bhartiya Yadav Mahasabha'.
Singh had close relations with Chaudhary Charan Singh and Ram Manohar Lohia. He resisted the emergency and was also jailed while protesting for farmer's rights.
He was an important leader of the Samajwadi Party and had very close relations with Mulayam Singh Yadav. After the death of Chaudhary Charan Singh, it was Harmohan who proposed to Yadav Mahasabha that Mulayam Singh Yadav should become their leader now. This led to a tremendous rise in the stature of Mulayam Singh Yadav.
With the help of his son Sukhram Singh, Harmohan Yadav established many educational institutions in and around Kanpur. Harmohan Singh Yadav died on July 25, 2012.
Six years before the 1984 anti-Sikh riots took place, Harmohan Singh and his family moved to a new place where most of the population was Sikh.
Yadav had a good relationship with the Sikhs and would help them occasionally. During the riots, Yadav was at home with his son Sukhram. They had with them a rifle, carbine, and guns. When the infuriated mob approached their locality, they moved to the terrace and fired in the air, driving back the attackers.
Local Sikhs went to Yadav's house for shelter, and the Yadav family protected them from attack until the attackers were dispersed or arrested. For protecting the lives of the Sikhs, former Indian president Ramaswamy Venkataraman awarded Yadav the Shaurya Chakra in 1991, an Indian military decoration awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice.
This isn't the first instance of PM Modi's display of bipartisanship. PM Modi's political journey has been full of several instances of display of bipartisanship.
Even though Mulayam Singh has been his political adversary, PM Modi has always maintained excellent relations with him. PM has always wished him on his birthdays.
In February 2015, PM Modi went to Saifai, Uttar Pradesh to attend the wedding-related function of Mulayam Singh Yadav's Nephew Tej Pratap Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad Yadav's daughter Rajlakshmi.
Recently, the Prime Minister called Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav and enquired about former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav's health when he was not well. When PM went to Patna to inaugurate the centenary celebrations of the Bihar Legislative Assembly, the first thing he did was to enquire about Lalu's health on meeting Tejasvi Yadav.
In November 2017, PM Modi went to meet the then Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president M Karunanidhi at his house in Chennai to enquire about his health. At that time, BJP ally AIADMK government was in power in Tamil Nadu and bitterness between DMK and AIADMK is well known but still, PM rose above politics and went to his house.
PM Modi has had very good relations with former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda. He has appreciated that PM Modi has always replied to his tweets and requests. When he went to the Statue of Unity, PM Modi praised him on Twitter.
Deve Gowda had challenged Modi in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections that if the BJP came to power on its own, then he would resign from Lok Sabha. After all the celebrations were over, he sought an appointment with Modi, for which he agreed.
When his car reached the portico of the Parliament, PM Modi himself came there to receive him. "I have had knee pain since then, which is still continuing. Whatever kind of person he is, that day when my car came to the portico, Modi himself came, held me by my hand and took me inside. This was for a person who had opposed him (Modi) so much," Gowda said.
Deve Gowda said that his respect for PM Modi increased manifold when he turned down his offer to resign from the Lok Sabha as PM told him that things said in the election campaign must not be taken to heart and his experience is valuable for other parliamentarians.
In February 2021, PM Modi gave an emotional speech during the farewell of Rajya Sabha opposition leader Ghulam Nabi Azad. Speaking during the farewell, PM Modi choked up as he recalled an episode when the two were chief ministers.
"I will never forget Ghulam Nabi Azad's efforts and Shri Pranab Mukherjee's efforts when people from Gujarat were stuck in Kashmir due to a terror attack. Ghulam Nabi Ji was constantly following up, he sounded as concerned as if those stuck were his own family members," an emotional PM Modi said. "I won't let you [Ghulam Nabi Azad] retire, will continue taking your advice. My doors are always open for you," PM added.
A PM displaying such emotions and choking up while recalling his contributions, for someone who was leader of his rival opposition party, speaks volumes of his statesmanship.
In August 2016, Congress President Sonia Gandhi's roadshow in Varanasi was terminated midway after she reportedly fell sick. Sonia cut short her visit and left for Delhi on her doctor's advice. PM Modi wished for her speedy recovery. He also spoke to Priyanka Gandhi and Sheila Dikshit and enquired about Sonia Gandhi's health. PM Modi offered to send a doctor to treat her and a plane to fly the Congress president back to Delhi. Similarly, during her Gujarat visit, when there was a snag in her chopper, PM had enquired about her well-being. PM Modi did all this for someone who has been a bitter adversary shows his bipartisan nature.
Between 2004 to 2009, when the entire Central government was against the then Gujarat CM Narendra Modi, he maintained extremely cordial relations with then Gujarat Governor Naval Kishore Sharma.
In July, 2009, Modi got emotional during Naval Kishore Sharma's farewell. "He (the governor) taught me the beauty of democracy and, in a way, he indirectly guided me to run the state like a father guides a son. I'll always remain his disciple. Panditji will retire from his post but will always remain a father figure for me." Sharma praised Chief Minister Narendra Modi and said he was 'full of energy'.
When Naval Kishore Sharma passed away in October 2012, Modiji especially visited Jaipur to pay his last tributes to him.
PM Modi has very warm relations with ex-President Pranab Mukherjee. PM wrote an emotional heartwarming letter to Pranab Mukherjee on his last day at the office as President. Pranab Mukherjee shared the letter and said that he was extremely touched by the gesture. Mukherjee in his book wrote he had very cordial relations with PM Modi during his tenure.
On the passing away of Pranab Mukherjee, PM Modi wrote a letter and shared his very personal expressions of grief pointing to a special relationship that the two had forged over the years.
Both these leaders were from rival political parties. Both were from different regions and had different backgrounds and political journeys. Yet, at the top of the political hierarchy, the leaders displayed impeccable camaraderie and worked together in cohesion.
PM Modi has good relations with Sharad Pawar even though he has been his political opponent. PM has greatly valued and has always been willing to learn from Sharad Pawar's knowledge and experience in the field of agriculture and cooperatives. He also went to his home turf Baramati twice.
Apart from this, a unique aspect of the Padma awards in recent years has been that the government under the leadership of PM Modi has not shied away from giving the award to Opposition leaders to mark their contributions. PM Modi has often stated that keeping politics aside, awards should recognize those who contributed to the great cause of India.
In 2022, the Former Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, and CPM leader Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee were honoured with Padma Bhushan.
Former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and former Rajya Sabha MP Tarlochan Singh were also conferred with Padma Bhushan in 2021,
The government also recognized the contribution of Former President Pranab Mukherjee and conferred him with Bharat Ratna in 2019.
NCP leader Sharad Pawar was honoured also by Padma Vibhushan in 2017. (ANI)