UP elections 2022: Mulayam Singh Yadav's daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav joins BJP

UP elections 2022: Mulayam Singh Yadav's daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav joins BJP

Rashmi SharmaUpdated: Thursday, January 20, 2022, 12:09 AM IST
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In a big catch in the run-up to the Assembly polls, the BJP has finally earned some brownie points by weaning away a member of the Mulayam Singh Yadav household.

The ‘acquisition’ is none other than the patriarch’s daughter-in law Aparna Yadav who is married to Prateek, offspring of Mulayam’s second wife. Akhilesh is from the first marriage.

Mulayam Singh tried his best to dissuade his daughter-in-law Aparna, but she did not relent, having made up her mind to cross over to the BJP, claims Akhilesh. ‘‘Now, I can only wish her good luck,’’ said the visibly embarrassed SP chief on Wednesday.

Loreto Convent-educated Aparna (32) has a Masters' degree in international relations and politics from the University of Manchester and runs ‘bAware’, an NGO working for the empowerment of women.

Insiders in the Yadav household say that both the stepbrothers -- Akhilesh and Prateek -- were never comfortable with each other, but Mulayam Singh ept the clan united. After Mulayam’s grip on the party weakened and Akhilesh took command, the dynamics of the relationship changed. The second wife of Mulayam wanted her son and daughter-in-law to be given due importance in the party which was not acceptable to Akhilesh.

Soon after joining the BJP, Aparna lashed out at SP and called it a party that promotes hooliganism and anti-social elements. She said that women can never feel safe in an SP government. She also left no room for doubt about her political leanings when she said after her induction: "I have always been inspired by Prime Minister Modi." Incidentally, she is from Uttarakhand and is known for her proximity to Yogi Adityanath.

Along with her, former legislator from Etawah and brother in law of Mulayam, Pramod Gupta, too, has joined the BJP.

Aparna is no political greenhorn and had contested the 2017 assembly polls on SP symbol from Lucknow Cantt assembly segment and was defeated by BJP’s Rita Bahuguna Joshi by a margin of over 30000 votes. After this, she was on the periphery and never attended any party programme.

After the recent desertion of several OBC leaders, the BJP decided to approach Aparna and bring her into party fold. According to senior BJP leaders, she may not contest and only campaign for the party. She is expected to counter Pryanka’s women-centric poll campaign.

Asked whether his party had refused to give Aparna a ticket, Akhilesh said that many variables come into play while deciding the candidature. He mocked at the BJP saying that the party was accommodating those who were not being entertained by the SP.

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