UP Elections 2022: For the BJP, it is a big acquisition in UP after many of its backward caste leaders, including three state ministers, recently crossed over to the Samajwadi Party.
All IndiaNDTV News DeskUpdated: January 19, 2022 10:46 am IST
New Delhi:
Akhilesh Yadav’s sister-in-law Aparna Yadav joined the BJP today, in a blow to the Samajwadi Party just weeks before the Uttar Pradesh election.
Aparna Yadav is the wife of Akhilesh Yadav’s brother and Mulayam Singh Yadav’s younger son Pratik Yadav.
For the BJP, it is a big acquisition in UP after many of its backward caste leaders, including three state ministers, recently crossed over to the Samajwadi Party.
The speculation about his sister-in-law Aparna Yadav joining the rival party comes just days after the Yogi Adityanath government saw a series of big exits.
Three former UP ministers who were welcomed by Akhilesh Yadav in his party are Swami Prasad Maurya, Dharam Singh Saini, and Dara Singh Chauhan.
Vinay Shakya, Roshan Lal Verma, Mukesh Verma, and Bhagwati Sagar were among the MLAs who also took the same route after the exodus.
Aparna Yadav contested the 2017 state election from Lucknow Cantt as a Samajwadi candidate but lost to Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who had quit the Congress then to join the BJP.
Aparna runs an organisation — bAware — that works for women’s issues and also a shelter for cows in Lucknow. Ms Yadav has been in the news in the past for praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi.