Who is Aparna Yadav

New Delhi, Jan 19: Mulayam Singh Yadav's daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav joined the BJP today. This comes as a major blow to the Samajwadi Party ahead of the crucial elections in Uttar Pradesh.

Aparna has sought a ticket from the Lucknow Cantt seat. She is said to have The development comes in the backdrop of the numerous exits from the BJP into the SP last week.

The fact that Aparna was keen on joining the BJP was clear when she lauded the party on numerous occasions. She also had donated Rs 11 lakh for the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.

She is the wife of Prateek Yadav the son of Mulayam Singh Yadav. She got married to Prateek in 2011 and they have a daughter. In 2017 she contested from the Lucknow Cantt seat to the BJP's Rita Bahugana Joshi.

Her father Arvind Singh Bisht is a journalist and is the current state information commissioner of UP.

Her mother Ambi Bisht is an official in the Lucknow Municipal Corporation.

Aparna did her post graduation in international relations and politics from the University of Manchester.

She had expressed her support to the NRC despite the SP opposing it. She also backed the decision of the Centre to abrogate Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.