UP polls: SP's Aparna Yadav set to join BJP, to meet party chief today

In what could be a big blow to the Samajwadi Party ahead of upcoming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Aparna Yadav, daughter-in-law of former state chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, is set to join the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday.

She is expected to meet BJP president JP Nadda after joining the party on Wednesday.

According to the sources, Aparna Yadav has sought a ticket from the Lucknow Cantt assembly seat.

Amid the talks of Aparna Yadav joining the BJP, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had also said that BJP members are worrying more about his family than about themselves.

Aparna Yadav has in the past lauded some initiatives of the BJP government. She also donated Rs 11 lakh to the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

Aparna Yadav contested the 2017 assembly elections from Lucknow Cantt seat and finished second. She was defeated by Bharatiya Janata Party's candidate Rita Bahuguna Joshi and secured about 63,000 votes. Aparna is the wife of Prateek Yadav, son of Mulayam Singh's second wife Sadhna Gupta.

There are many contenders for Lucknow Cantt seat in the BJP. Apart from Deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma, Rita Bahuguna Joshi is also seeking a ticket for her son from the seat.

Elections to the 403 assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases starting February 10.

The polling in Uttar Pradesh will be held on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27, and March 3 and 7 in seven phases. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.