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Uttar Pradesh: Who is Aparna Yadav, Mulayam Singh's daughter-in-law who joined the BJP?

Aparna is the wife of Akhilesh Yadav's younger brother

Aparna Yadav BJP Arvind Jain Aparna Yadav inducted into the BJP by party leaders Keshav Prasad Maurya and Swatantra Dev Singh | Arvind Jain

Aparna Yadav, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav's daughter-in-law, joined the BJP today in the presence of deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya and BJP state president Swatantra Dev Singh. This development comes ahead of crucial assembly polls in the state, and SP's Akhilesh Yadav building up a head of steam. Aparna is the wife of Akhilesh's younger brother Prateek. Earlier, Akhilesh had dismissed speculation about Aparna joining the BJP. He had said: "The BJP is more concerned about my family than me. Are you asking the question after being inspired by the BJP?"

Who is Aparna Yadav?

Aparna Yadav was always a woman with an opinion. In the past, she has not hesitated to speak her mind. After the 2019 poll loss, for instance, she asked the Samajwadi Party to look inwards. She had also taken on brother-in-law Akhilesh, wondering if he had consulted anyone before forming the alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), and if Netaji was happy with it.

Though there has often been speculation about her joining the BJP, it was the strongest when she visited Yogi Adityanath some days after he had taken oath in March 2017.

Yadav is a graduate in international politics from the University of Manchester. She is also a trained classical singer. In November 2013, she recorded a song for the party that went Aao milkar desh bachaye, Netaji ko Dilli layein (Let us save the country, Let us get Netaji to Delhi). She is also an animal lover who would often check on the Kanha Upvan (shelter for stray cattle) residents. An activist for girls and women’s safety, she ran the BAware campaign in educational institutions.

Recently she had donated Rs 11 lakhs for the Ram Mandir, and also made her support to the NRC known.

Aparna's husband Prateek Yadav, Mulayam's younger son, has a successful real estate business and runs a gym. He has often said that politics is definitely not for him. Yet, some years ago, after he had turned 25 and thus become eligible for contesting Lok Sabha elections, a group of of supporters from Azamgarh landed at the party office in Lucknow demanding that he be fielded from the district. Azamgarh ki yehi pukar, Prateek bhaiya abki baar (Azamgarh’s cry, this time Prateek) they shouted despite admitting that they had never seen the man they were rooting for. Their logic was that their backward district would see the fruits of development if the younger Yadav son stepped in. Some murmured that Prateek had engineered the demonstration to slyly voice his political ambitions.

Aparna Yadav had contested the 2017 UP assembly elections on an SP ticket from Lucknow Cantonment, but lost to BJP's Rita Bahuguna Joshi.

The defection comes in the backdrop of a spate of resignations from the ruling BJP. Last week, OBC leader Dharam Singh Saini became the third minister to resign from the Uttar Pradesh cabinet this week, giving yet another jolt to the ruling BJP in the run-up to the assembly polls.

Hours before Saini’s resignation, Shikohabad MLA Mukesh Verma announced that he is leaving the BJP.

Most of the eight MLAs, including the ministers, who have declared they are quitting during the last three days are from the Other Backward Classes and appear to be headed towards Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party. 

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