In the Yadav family war, 26-year-old Aparna is seen to be ranged against her brother-in-law.
Mulayam Singh Yadav's drastically downsized wish-list of 38 candidates for the Uttar Pradesh election, handed over to son Akhilesh Yadav yesterday, features Aparna Yadav, the politically ambitious wife of his second son.
The Samajwadi patriarch had named her almost a year ago as the party candidate from Lucknow Cantt. She was in the list of candidates that Mulayam Singh announced without Akhilesh Yadav's consent in December. She remains in his list after the 77-year-old was forced to cede the controls of the party to his estranged son following the Election Commission's decision to give him the rights to the party's "cycle" symbol.
Even the Chief Minister had named no one for the seat when he produced his own rebel list of 235 candidates last month, dramatically escalating his war with his father and uncle Shivpal Yadav.
Aparna Yadav may be chosen but few are betting on her chances in the constituency that has never elected the Samajwadi Party. The Lucknow Cantt seat is currently held by Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who recently quit the Congress to join the BJP. Mrs Joshi won the seat in 2009 by narrowly defeating the BJP's Lalji Tandon.
In the Yadav family war, 26-year-old Aparna is seen to be ranged against her brother-in-law.
Out of favour not long ago for praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP schemes, she reportedly muscled her way back in over several family meetings in which she insisted that she should be allowed to contest the assembly polls. But her request for a "safe" seat was not granted.
A post-grad in politics and international relations from the Manchester University and a trained singer, the younger Yadav bahu has always been far more politically inclined than her husband Prateek, Mulayam Singh's son by his second wife Sadhna Gupta. Prateek Yadav runs a real estate business and a chain of gyms. He was recently in the news for his cool ride - a blue Lamborghini Huracan worth around four crores.
Aparna Yadav, the mother of a three-year-old, has been prepping for some time for a more public role, with an NGO that works for women's empowerment, women's safety and animal welfare.
Aparna has an in-house example to be constantly weighed against - her older sister-in-law and Akhilesh Yadav's wife Dimple, who is a Lok Sabha member from Kannauj.