Aparna Yadav, the younger daughter-in-law of Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav, met state unit president of BJP Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary in Lucknow on Thursday.
Chaudhary also shared a photograph of the meeting on his Twitter handle. Aparna Yadav had joined BJP on the eve of the latest Assembly election in the state. Chaudhary’s meeting with Aparna Yadav coincided with declaration by Samajwadi Party of its candidate from the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat where bypoll is scheduled to be held on December 5.
The SP had, earlier in the day, announced Dimple Yadav as its candidate from the seat, which had fallen vacant following the death of Mulayam Singh Yadav. Dimple Yadav is the wife of the SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and also the elder daughter-in-law of the SP founder. She had represented Kannauj seat in 2012 and 2014.
A BJP spokesman termed the meeting between Chudhary and Aparna Yadav a "routine" affair. BJP is yet to declare its candidate for the Mainpuri seat – a stronghold of the Samajwadi Party.
The party’s spokesperson said the BJP follows a process before declaring the candidate for a seat in any election. Aparna Yadav had joined Bharatiya Janata Party on January 19 this year in New Delhi and had also campaigned for it in the assembly elections.
She is married to Prateek Yadav, son of Mulayam Singh Yadav's second wife. Akhilesh Yadav is his son from his first marriage.
(With PTI Inputs)
