‘Bhabhi Ji’ BJP Me Hai: Who Is Aparna Yadav, Mulayam’s Choti Bahu Who Dumped SP to Join Saffron Brigade

Despite being Mulayam Singh Yadav's daughter-in-law, Aparna on several occasions had spoken in favour of BJP's work. She had openly voiced her support for the central government policies, including abrogation of Article 370 and NRC (National Register of Citizens), which was Opposed by the Samajwadi Party.

New Delhi: Ahead of crucial Uttar Pradesh Assembly election 2022, the Samajwadi Party (SP) was left red faced after Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Choti Bahu (youngest daughter-in-law) ditched her own political family to join the Bharatiya Janata Party. She joined the saffron brigade in presence of Uttar Pradesh state unit president Swatantra Dev Singh, deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, BJP media department head Anil Baluni, at party headquarters in the national capital. This comes days after several BJP bigwigs including cabinet ministers Swami Prasad Maurya, Dharam Singh Saini, and Dara Singh Chauhan joined hands with Akhilesh Yadav-led SP.

Despite being Mulayam Singh Yadav’s daughter-in-law, Aparna on several occasions had spoken in favour of BJP’s work. She had openly voiced her support for the central government policies, including abrogation of Article 370 and NRC (National Register of Citizens), which was Opposed by the Samajwadi Party.

“Jo Bharat ka hai use register mein ankit hone mein kya samasya hai (Those who belong to India, should have no problem in getting themselves registered)” she had tweeted.

#JamiaMilia #NRCBill #NRCProtest #AligarhMuslimUniversity #16December जो भारत का है उसे रेजिस्टर में अंकित होने में क्या समस्या है ?!

— Aparna Bisht Yadav (@aparnabisht7) December 16, 2019

Besides, she had grabbed headlines in 2017 when she met Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath at a cow shelter, run by her husband Prateek. The meeting then had sparked speculation about whether Aparna Yadav was growing closer to the BJP. However, she had dismissed rumours saying that CM Yogi had visited the cow shelter on her invitation as Chief Minister of the state. “He is everyone’s CM and Yogi Adityanath too runs cow shelters in his Gorakhpur, so we requested him to visit ours and give us some tips on how to improve it,” she had said.

Key Things to Know About Aparna Yadav

• Aparna, the wife of Mulayam Singh Yadav’s son Pratik Yadav, had unsuccessfully contested the 2017 polls against BJP Rita Bahuguna Joshi from Lucknow Cantt.
• Like Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Aparna too comes from a Thakur-Bisht background. Besides, both belong to Pauri in Uttarakand.
• She runs an organisation – bAware – that works for women’s issues. She also operates a shelter for cows in Lucknow.
• It is learnt that she is seeking a ticket from Lucknow Cantt assembly seat, however, the BJP leadership has clarified that there is no pre-condition for joining.