Kuch log the jo waqt ke, saancho men dhal gaye
Kuch log hain jinse waqt ke, saanche badal gaye
These couplets by famous Urdu poet Hasrat Mohani very aptly describe the life and journey of three-term MLA, member of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Dharm Pal Yadav popularly known as DP Yadav- an industrialist turned politician who was a cabinet minister in the Mulayam Singh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh.
Born to a joint family of farmers residing in a village called ‘Sarfabad’ in the Gautam Budh Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh, D P Yadav’s father was a man of principle and values who participated in India’s struggle to freedom from British as a ‘swatantrata senani’.
Commonly referred as ‘bahubali’ of Budaun DP Yadav is known amongst the elderly members of his family and relatives as a highly ambitious, hard-working young man who, once set his eyes on a goal, will leave no stone unturned to achieve it. It was his sheer passion of achieving excellence through education that led him to cover a long-distance on a bicycle to reach his school every-day. His dedication towards obtaining a good education led him to move to Ghaziabad- a neighboring district to attend college and complete his formal education. One must note this was a time when passing even metric exam was considered as a big achievement.
DP Yadav, as he tells in one of his interviews was a movie buff and even wanted to become a Bollywood hero once upon a time. He even went to Mumbai (then Bombay) to pursue a career in films but soon realised that the glamour world of Mumbai was too shallow a place for a personality like him who was raised by his father with values such as truth and integrity.
Upon his arrival from Mumbai DP Yadav tried his luck in multiple businesses including dairy, mining and real-estate and climbed the ladder of success with his hard work, dedication, and charismatic personality. People who have known or worked with him confess that he has a way with people, and one just loves the way he treats individuals.
Everything was going well but DP Yadav knew that something was missing. Somewhere in his heart there was this profound desire to come into public service and do greater good for the society. And as luck would have it, in corporate circuits, he came across Amar Singh who introduced him to Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. Mulayam Singh Yadav, looking to solidify his party’s ground in western Uttar Pradesh insisted DP Yadav to join politics and fielded him from Sambhal AC in 1993 assembly elections of Uttar Pradesh. He won that election and from that day onwards became an indispensable name in the Indian politics.
