In the season of shifting political loyalties in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, the BJP on Wednesday won over Samajwadi Party (SP) patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav’s daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav. Aparna joined the saffron outfit here at BJP headquarters.
Aparna is married to Prateek Yadav, son of Mulayam Singh Yadav’s second wife. SP president Akhilesh Yadav is his son from his first marriage.
Meanwhile, Colonel Vijay Rawat, the brother of India’s first Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, joined the BJP on Wednesday in Uttarakhand ahead of the State polls. “My father (Gen Laxman Singh Rawat) after retiring from the Army, was with the BJP. Now I have got an opportunity. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision is special. All his work is for the progress of this nation. That is what encouraged me to join the BJP. His plan for Uttarakhand is a product of a great vision,” Colonel Vijay Rawat said. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami was also present.
General Bipin Rawat, who was born in Uttarakhand, his wife, and 12 others died last month after their chopper crashed in Tamil Nadu’s Conoor.
Aparna, in her early thirties, who was making overtures to the BJP for long, joined the party in the presence of Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and BJP nState chief Swatantra Dev Singh.
The BJP may be fielding her in the UP Assembly polls, though a seat ‘fitting her political background’ is yet to be decided, sources said.
Praising Aparna, Maurya said she had been from time to time expressing views that showed her inclination towards the BJP.
The Uttar Pradesh BJP president lambasted Samajwadi Party for its alleged support to criminals in its ticket distribution in western Uttar Pradesh. Farmers and women never felts safe when the Samajwadi Party was in power, he alleged.
Singh said Aparna has faith in good governance of Prime Minister Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and her induction in the BJP will boost the party.
Expressing her admiration for Modi, she said the nation’s interest has always been a priority for her and praised several schemes of the BJP Government for cleanliness, woman empowerment and employment.
The switch, a shot in the arm for BJP, comes at a time when a number of OBC leaders have quit the BJP and joined the SP.
Aparna had contested the 2017 Assembly polls on the SP ticket from Lucknow Cantonment but lost to BJP’s Rita Bahuguna Joshi, now a Lok Sabha member.
Bahuguna is now herself pitching for a seat for her son and written a letter to the BJP president JP Nadda to the effect saying she may quit her Lok Sabha seat if the party were to stick to one member one ticket guideline.