AGRA: Sandhya Yadav, niece of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav and sister of former Badaun MP Dharmendra Yadav, is all set to fight the zila panchayat election on a BJP ticket from Mainpuri, a stronghold of Samajwadi Party.
Sandhya is the incumbent chairperson of Mainpuri district panchayat, and has filed the nomination papers from ward 18 (Ghiror III) on Wednesday. She had contested the previous election on a SP ticket. The polling is scheduled on April 19.
In 2017, a no-confidence motion was moved against Sandhya just after a week when her husband, Anujesh Yadav -- who was member of the Firozabad zila panchayat and was close to Shivpal Yadav -- was expelled from the party for signing a motion against the local zila panchayat president, Vijay Pratap, a close associate of Ram Gopal Yadav.
Later, the motion was withdrawn after 11 members submitted an affidavit disassociating themselves from the decision. Two years ago, in 2019, Anujesh joined BJP.
Anujesh told TOI, “If SP members could move a no-confidence motion against my wife (Sandhya), why can’t she fight the elections on a BJP ticket.” Anujesh claimed that his wife would win this election comfortably, adding that their family has a stronghold in Mainpuri. “My mother, Urmila Yadav, had been MLA twice from Ghiror -- in 1993 and 1996,” said Anujesh.
Former Samajwadi MP from Mainpuri, Tej Paratap Yadav, who is a nephew of Sandhya Yadav, said the party will treat her as an opponent. “We have our own candidate and we will work for his victory,” Yadav said.
BJP district president Pradeep Chauhan said, “Mulayam Singh Yadav himself had praised PM Narendra Modi in Parliament, and if the former’s niece is contesting as our party candidate, it means that she also supports the development agenda of the BJP. There is nothing wrong in it.” Everyone has a right to choose one's path, he added.