Aparna Yadav joins BJP ahead of UP Assembly polls: When political ideology trumped family ties

On Wednesday, the Samajwadi Party received a shock after Aparna Yadav, the younger daughter-in-law of party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav, joined the rival BJP.

Joining the BJP in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and BJP state president Swatantra Dev Singh, Aparna said, “I am very thankful to BJP. The nation always comes first for me. I admire Prime Minister Narendra Modi's work.”

This, as party chief Akhilesh Yadav said Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav tried hard to convince his Aparna to not join the BJP. Akhilesh also expressed his happiness that the SP's socialist ideology is expanding its reach.

"I  hope that our ideology will reach there and work to save the constitution and democracy," the Samajwadi Party president said.

Ahead of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Manipur, Goa, Uttarakhand going to the polls in February, let’s take a look at some instances when political ideology trumped familial ties.

– The brother of Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi recently announced his intention to fight election as an Independent candidate.  According to The Times of India, while Channi will campaign for the Congress candidate in Bassi Pathana, his brother Manohar Singh too will contest from the same seat.

– In the 2014 General Election, BJP gave a ticket to Harish Meena to fight from Dausa in Rajasthan against his brother Namo Narain Meena, who was a Union Minister in the Congress government from 2009 to 2014. Despite winning the seat, Harish left BJP in November 2018 to join Congress. He is now the MLA from Deoli-Uniara constituency.

– While former Odisha chief minister Giridhar Gamang contested the 2014 General Election on Congress ticket, his wife quit the party and joined Biju Janta Dal (BJD) to fight the Assembly election from Laximpur seat.

– Sangeeta Singh Deo of BJP, a four-time MP from Odisha’s Bolangir, locked horns with her brother-in-law and BJD member Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo in April 2019.

– In the 2017 Himachal Pradesh Assembly election, Col Dhani Ram Shandil ran on a Congress ticket from Solan constituency against his son-in-law Rajesh Kashyap who was on a BJP ticket. Shandil won the election by a razor-thin margin of 671 votes.

– In Himachal Pradesh’s Kasumpti Assembly constituency in the 2017 elections, Vijay Jyoti Sen ran on a BJP ticket while her brother-in-law Prithvi Vikram Sen stood against her as an Independent candidate. Neither won. Anirudh Singh of Congress prevailed in the election.

– Last year Assembly elections in West Bengal pushed a married couple apart. BJP MP Saumitra Khan from Bishnupur constituency filed for divorce when his wife Sujata Mondal Khan joined the Trinamool Congress. Sujata was later defeated by BJP’s Madhusudan Bag from Arambagh constituency.

– In the 2014 General Election, sitting Congress MP Deepa Dasmunshi from West Bengal’s Raiganj Lok Sabha seat contested against brother-in-law Satyaranjan Dasmunshi. The Dasmunshis lost to rival CPI(M)’s Mohammed Salim.

– West Bengal’s Alipurduar Lok Sabha seat saw a contest within a family during the 2014 General Election as Trinamool Congress’ Dasrath Tirkey fought against the Left Front’s sitting MP Manohar Tirkey. The men are married to sisters.

– BJP’s Tathagata Roy and TMC’s Sougata Roy are brothers but belong to rival parties. In the 2014 General Election, while Tathagata Roy fought and lost from the Kolkata South seat, his brother Sougata defended and retained his seat from Dum Dum.

With inputs from agencies

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