NCP president Sharad Pawar on Monday condoled the death of former defence minister Mulayam Singh Yadav and said he gave the Samajwadi Party a strong ideology to stand against communal forces and worked for creating a socialist society.

Yadav, 82, passed away on Monday at a hospital in Gurugram after prolonged illness. The Samajwadi Party founder and three-time chief minister of Uttar Pradesh was admitted to hospital since August and was shifted to the Intensive Care Unit of the Gurugram-based Medanta Hospital on October 2.