A photo showing Mulayam Singh Yadav placing his hand on the head of his daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav is doing the rounds on social media with a claim that the image shows the Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo gave his blessings to Aparna to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
In a blow to the Samajwadi Party, Aparna Yadav joined the BJP on January 19, 2022 just few weeks before the upcoming Uttar Pradesh election.
Aparna Yadav is married to Prateek Yadav, the half-brother of Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav. Prateek Yadav is the son of Mulayam Singh Yadav's second wife. Aparna contested her first election on an SP ticket in 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls but lost to BJP candidate Rita Bahuguna Joshi.
The caption with the photo reads as, "Molayam Singh Yadav's own daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav joined BJP after taking blessings from her father-in-law."
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The image is viral with a similar caption in Hindi on Facebook too.
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Fact Check
BOOM did a reverse image search of the photo and found the picture on Aparna Yadav's official twitter handle posted on September 1, 2021.
The image was posted along with three other pictures with a caption in Hindi which translates to, "On the auspicious occasion of mother's birthday, I became lucky to receive her blessings. May the kindness and blessings of mother and father always be with all of us. I pray to god that they stay healthy and get a long life."
(Original Text in Hindi: माता जी के जन्मदिवस के शुभ अवसर पर माता जी का आशीर्वाद प्राप्त करने का सौभाग्य प्राप्त हुआ , माता जी एवम् पिता जी की ममता एवम् आशीर्वाद की क्षत्र छाया हम सब पर सदैव बनी रहे और ईश्वर से प्रार्थना है कि माता जी एवम् पिता जी स्वस्थ रहें व दीर्घायु प्राप्त करें।)
Aparna also showed her interest to contest the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls in 2022 on an SP ticket after posting the tweet. According to a ANI's report published on December 5, 2021, she said that "if Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) or Akhilesh (Yadav) Bhaiya says, I will contest from Tiloi Assembly. It is the decision of the National President to decide whom to give a ticket."
However, Akhilesh Yadav told reporters on January 19, 2022 in response to Aparna Yadav joining the BJP, Mulayam Singh Yadav tried very hard to convince his daughter-in-law not to join the rival party. Additionally, he also congratulated his sister-in-law and extended his best wishes while claiming that the SP's socialist ideology was expanding its reach.
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