Such is the sad state of the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP) that Mulayam Singh Yadav’s niece, Sandhya Yadav has now joined the BJP ahead of the April 15 District Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh. Sandhya has also been given a ticket by the BJP to contest the upcoming panchayat elections.
Perhaps well aware of the fact that the SP in its current state is in no position to dislodge the BJP government in next year’s Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, SP patriarch Mulayam Yadav’s niece, Sandhya Yadav has now joined the BJP.
According to a report by ANI, in the BJP’s list of candidates, Sandhya has been nominated from Ghiror, Mainpuri from ward number 18 for the District Panchayat elections which will be held in four phases from April 15 to 29, 2020 and the results will likely be announced on May 2.
For the uninitiated, Sandhya is the daughter of Mulayam Singh’s elder brother Abhairam Yadav and former SP MP from Badaun Dharmendra Yadav’s elder sister. However, this development has an eerie resemblance with the case of Aparna Yadav, the daughter-in-law of Mulayam Singh Yadav who has often gone beyond the party lines.
For an instance, back in 2019, Aparna, unlike other family members of Mulayam Singh Yadav, did not support Azam Khan’s remarks about Jaya Prada. Speaking to TOI Aparna had said, “Azam Khan is a senior and seasoned politician and I respect him a lot. But whatever he said was uncalled for and disrespectful to anyone, be it a political rival or competitor in elections.” Aparna Yadav’s stand against the disrespectful and disgusting comment of Azam Khan shows her strong character and virtues. She is probably the only person in the Samajwadi party to put morals on priority, above politics.
While Aparna came out in support of Jaya Parda, Akhilesh’s wife Dimple Yadav chose to be silent on this issue. Dimple Yadav, who is a former SP MP from Kannauj, did not have anything to say about the comments made by Azam Khan.
Moreover, recently while the Ram Mandir donation drive was going on, Aparna Yadav had also not supported her brother-in-law SP Supremo Akhilesh Yadav’s remarks about the donation collectors being ‘chandajeevis’ and had herself donated for the construction of the Ayodhya temple. While speaking to Republic TV, she said, “All I want to say is that I have donated as per my wishes. All my party workers and the people I know, I don’t have much time because I have many social engagements and I am a social worker so I collected the money and donated it.”
There is a unique family politics that goes on in the Yadav clan. The members do not align with each other’s views. While Akhilesh, on multiple occasions questioned his father’s decision, the two ladies of the house in the past have different stands on such issues. The stark difference in how the family members carry forward their moral values in their political career is clear through these instances.
There seems to be a family divide and SP’s rising unpopularity among the masses is forcing even the leaders from the family of Mulayam to switch sides.
