UP polls: Yadav bahus take centre stage, Dimple campaigns for Aparna

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav on Wednesday campaigned for his younger daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav who is contesting the Lucknow Cantt seat.

Ms Dimple Yadav, wife of chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, also campaigned for her sister-in-law, and addressed a separate meeting later in the day. 

Mr Yadav, while addressing the gathering, said that the Samajwadi government had done a great deal of development and if Aparna Yadav won the elections, she would ensure greater development of the constituency. “Yeh mere samman ka mamla hai. Yeh mere bete ki patni hai, isko jita dena”, he pleaded.

He said that SP had always worked for the youth, farmers and minorities and would continue to do so.

Appealing to minority voters, Mr Yadav said that he had ordered firing in 1990 to save the Babri mosque. “It was an unfortunate decision but if the mosque had been damaged, Muslims would have felt insecure. Religious places must be protected at all costs,” he said.

Mr Yadav also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making false promises to the people of the country. He said that a PM making false promises amounts to corruption.

Meanwhile, Ms Dimple Yadav spoke of the achievements of the Akhilesh government and asked people to support candidates of the alliance in order to ensure greater development in the second term of the Akhilesh government.

She said, “This election will not only decide your MLA but also your chief minister. We Samajwadis do not do ‘mann ki baat’ — we do only ‘kaam ki baat”.

Mr Yadav is the first family member to have campaigned for Ms Aparna Yadav. Mr Yadav had earlier campaigned for two days for his brother Shivpal Yadav in Jaswantnagar in Etawah.