Aparna Yadav to take on Dimple Yadav in Mainpuri bypoll? Mulayam Singh Yadav's legacy on focus in BJP-SP prestige battle

The Samajwadi Party has fielded Dimple Yadav, wife of party chief Akhilesh Yadav, for the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat which fell vacant after the demise of party founder and her father-in-law Mulayam Singh Yadav’s demise on October 10. 

Her candidature is seen as the SP's efforts to carry forward Mulayam Singh Yadav’s legacy on the seat, considered a stronghold of the party since 1996. Her selection is also seen as an attempt to unite party cadres ahead of the bypoll. 

The 44-year-old wife of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav will file her nomination at the Mainpuri collectorate on Monday afternoon, Alok Shakya, district president of the party's Mainpuri district unit.

The by-election for the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat will be held on December 5 and the result will be declared on December 8. Filing of nominations for the bypoll has started, and November 17 is the last date for filing of nomination.

The Mainpuri parliamentary constituency has five assembly segments -- Mainpuri, Bhongaon, Kishni, Karhal and Jaswant Nagar. In the 2022 assembly elections, the SP won the Karhal, Kishni and the Jaswant Nagar seats, while the BJP won the Mainpuri and the Bhogaon seats.

Asked about the SP's loss in the Mainpuri and the Bhogaon assembly seats, former Lok Sabha MP and Mulayam Singh Yadav’s grand-nephew Tej Pratap Yadav said: "On one seat, the margin was around 3,600, and on the other, it was 5,000. But if you take into account all the seats, the numbers are with the SP."

"People here have a personal and emotional attachment with Mulayam Singh Yadav-ji. In this election, people will forget bygone things and vote for the SP. Those who had not voted for the SP earlier, will vote for the party in netaji's same," he said.

People of Mainpuri will give a befitting reply to all parties who have fielded candidates in this bypoll to help the BJP, Tej Pratap Yadav said.

The BJP is gearing up to take on the SP in its own bastion but is yet to announce its candidate against Dimple Yadav. It is still not clear whether Congress, BSP and Shivpal Yadav's Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia (PSPL) will contest the polls or not.

On Thursday, Mulayam Singh Yadav’s younger daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav met BJP state unit president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary in the party office. Her visit set off speculation that the BJP may field her from Mainpuri seat.

Aparna Yadav had joined the BJP on January 19 just weeks before the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly election held in February and March. She campaigned for the party candidates in various constituencies.

“As the daughter-in-law of Mulayam Singh Yadav, she is also a claimant to his legacy. She also enjoys the support of Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) chief Shivpal Singh Yadav whose support will be crucial in deciding fate of the candidate,” a BJP leader was quoted by Hindustan Times as saying. 

The ruling party is also focusing on non-Yadav OBC candidates, particularly from the Shakya community. They include two-time Etawah MP Raghuraj Singh Shakya, party MLA from Patiyali (Etah) Mamtesh Shakya and Prem Singh Shakya. 

Dimple Yadav had lost the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 to BJP candidate Subrat Pathak from Kannauj.

In 2019, SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav won the seat by a margin of more than 94,000 votes over his nearest rival BJP's Prem Singh Shakya.

Akhilesh's Karhal assembly seat is part of Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency and so is Jaswant Nagar, which is represented by Shivpal Yadav.

Dimple Yadav was elected unopposed from the Kannauj constituency to the Lok Sabha in 2012 after Akhilesh Yadav became the chief minister and resigned from the seat to enter the Uttar Pradesh legislative council.

Yadavs account for about 35 per cent of the total 12.13 lakh voters in the Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency while the rest include Shakyas, Thakurs, Brahmins, Scheduled Castes and Muslims.

(With PTI inputs)