Nawab Singh Yadav of Kannauj
Kannauj SP leader Nawab Singh Yadav has been arrested on charges of molesting a minor girl. Nawab’s arrest is being considered as a big blow for the SP who is surrounded in the Ayodhya case. There are two major reasons for this. The first reason is that Nawab hails from Kannauj, Akhilesh Yadav’s parliamentary constituency.
Another reason is Nawab Yadav’s closeness to the Akhilesh family. When Dimple was MP from Kannauj, she appointed Nawab as her MP representative. In Akhilesh’s government, the Nawab was called a mini chief minister.
Politics has also intensified over the Nawab’s arrest. UP BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi has said that the SP does not deserve to show its face anymore. Moid Khan in Ayodhya and Nawab Yadav in Kannauj have been caught in heinous crimes.
How did Nawab Singh Yadav enter politics?
Born in a Yadav family in Adangapur village of Katri, Nawab started his career in student politics. Initially he was contesting elections in colleges in Kannauj. In 1997, Nawab joined Lohia Vahini, the SP’s student body. In the same year he was made the District President.
Till 2006 he was the Kannauj District President of Lohia Vahini. Meanwhile, Nawab came in contact with Akhilesh Yadav. Actually in 2000 Mulayam Singh sent Akhilesh Yadav to contest Kannauj election. This was Akhilesh’s first election.
Akhilesh formed a team to move among the people on the ground. Being the District President of Lohia Vahini, Nawab was an important member of this team. As Akhilesh’s polity was established in Kannauj, the Nawab also became close to him.
In 2006, Nawab was elected as Block Chief from Kannauj Sadar seat. However, just a year later, bad days came for the Nawab under Mayawati’s government. A case was registered against him under various charges like threat, attempt to murder, extortion etc. However, the Nawab survived each time due to Akhilesh’s support.
Dimple made a strategy to win unopposed
In 2012, the SP government came to power in UP. Mulayam Singh replaced him with Akhilesh Yadav as Chief Minister. Akhilesh had to resign from the Kannauj seat due to becoming Chief Minister. It was decided that Akhilesh Yadav’s wife Dimple will contest from this seat.
In 2009, Dimple contested from the Firozabad seat, but was defeated by Raj Babbar of the Congress. In Kannauj, the SP did not want to take any risk with Dimple, so the election was handed over to the Nawab.
Nawab started winning Dimple unopposed as soon as the election was announced. It is being said that on one hand the big leaders of the SP were trying to convince the Congress and BSP high command, on the other hand the Nawab was contacting the contenders and convincing them not to contest the elections.
Prabhat Pandey of Amethi announced his candidacy from this seat when the major parties withdrew the nomination. Pandey reached Kannauj with two of his supporters to file the nomination, but he could not file the nomination.
Pandey had told reporters at the time that he was abducted from the Kannauj Collectorate itself. Later, when a controversy arose, the matter went to the CBI, which is still investigating. Due to Pandey’s failure to get the nomination, Dimple won the election unopposed.
Got the title of Mini CM in Kannauj
When Akhilesh Yadav was the Chief Minister of UP, the Nawab was called the Mini CM in the administrative and political circles of Kannauj. Courts were held at the Nawab’s house in Kannauj and all sorts of matters were decided there.
In an interview Nawab says on these allegations – he has only come to do politics for the people. People would come to us with their problems and we would solve them. Opposition people misrepresented it and questioned our modus operandi.
Nawab also faced bad times in 2017 when the Akhilesh Yadav government ended. A case was registered against him under serious charges of land grabbing, assault and corruption. Meanwhile, Dimple Yadav also lost the election in 2019, due to which she lost the post of MP representative.
Nawab wanted to contest assembly elections in 2022, but Akhilesh did not give him a ticket. At this election the Nawab got angry and sat at home. He became active again in 2024 when Akhilesh contested from Kannauj. He was responsible for everything from strategy to booth management. It was also being said that if Akhilesh wins, good days will come for him.
But now the way Nawab has been accused of molestation, Akhilesh is also on the backfoot. However, Akhilesh has not yet given any reaction on this.
