Mulayam tried to convince Aparna Yadav not to join BJP, says Akhilesh

Categories: Election 2022

    Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav tried hard to convince his daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav to not join the BJP, party chief Akhilesh Yadav said on Wednesday and expressed his happiness that the SP's socialist ideology is expanding its reach.Akhilesh Yadav, who sent his sister-in-law best wishes for her move to the BJP, also addressed speculation on whether he would contest the assembly elections and said he would consult the people of his parliamentary constituency Azamgarh.

   In his first response to Aparna Yadav joining the BJP, Akhilesh Yadav said he would like to congratulate her and extend her his best wishes."Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) tried very hard to convince her," he said when asked if efforts were made to stop Aparna Yadav from joining the ruling party.There had been much speculation about her joining the BJP, and the development highlights the rift in the SP's ruling family at a time Akhilesh Yadav has been working to rally the party's base in the run up to the state assembly polls beginning next month.

   The Uttar Pradesh BJP president used the occasion to hit out at the Samajwadi Party for its alleged support to criminals in its ticket distribution in western Uttar Pradesh, the region which goes to the polls on February 10 and 14. Farmers and women never felts safe when the SP was in power, he said.Akhilesh Yadav, after much dilly-dallying, has decided to contest the Uttar Pradesh election, sources said today, NDTV.con said in a report. He had earlier said he would not contest the polls and would prefer to focus on every seat in the state.

   Reports of Akhilesh Yadav contesting the election come a day his sister-in-law Aparna Yadav is tipped to join the BJP in Delhi, going in the opposite direction after several key backward caste leaders from the BJP switched to the Samajwadi Party recently.