In what was being perceived as a loss of face for the Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav, Aparna Yadav, who was the wife of his brother Prateek Yadav, on Wednesday joined the BJP.
According to sources in the UP BJP here, Aparna was likely to get the saffron party nomination to contest the Assembly polls.
Reacting to Aparna's joining the BJP, Akhilesh said that he hoped that she would 'carry' SP's ideology to the BJP. "It is good to see that BJP is giving tickets to those who we did not nominate," he said.
Sources in the SP said that Aparna had sought nomination from Lucknow Cantonment seat but was refused the ticket as Akhilesh felt that she would not be able to win the seat for the party.
Aparna had contested from the same seat in 2017 but had lost to BJP nominee Rita Bahuguna Joshi. Interestingly Joshi, who was currently a BJP MP from Prayagraj, has sought a ticket from the saffron party for her son Mayank Joshi.
Aparna was married to Prateek Yadav, who was the son of SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav's second wife Sadhna Gupta.
She had earlier also aired her difference with Akhilesh over several issues and had heaped praise on prime minister Narendra Modi and UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath. She had also given donations for the under construction Ram Temple at Ayodhya.
SP leaders here said that Aparna's entry would not benefit the BJP as she did not have any support base. "It is (Aparna's switch to BJP) just a loss of face. It has no electoral significance," a senior SP leader here said.
Sources said that Mulayam as well as his younger brother Shivpal Singh Yadav, who had also parted ways with Akhilesh but declared his support for the SP president in the forthcoming Assembly polls, had also spoken to Aparna in a bid to persuade her not to join the BJP but she remained adamant.
Sources in the BJP here said that the saffron party might find it difficult to nominate Aparna from the seat she had sought as it could irk Rita Bahuguna Joshi.
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