Lucknow: After surprising many by expressing her support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Samajwadi Party mentor Mulayam Singh Yadav's younger daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav has now courted a fresh controversy by opposing the caste-based reservation.
According to PTI, Aparna Yadav's reported remark has given BJP a new ammunition to attack the ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh.
"The SP leadership will have to prove its allegiance to the OBCs, Scheduled Castes and Tribes by taking action against Aparna Yadav," the state BJP unit said.
Aparna Yadav, who is debuting as a Samajwadi Party candidate from Lucknow Cantt. assembly constituency, is married to Prateek Yadav, the younger son of Mulayam.
Aparna is pitted against Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who won the seat as a Congress candidate in 2012. Joshi has since joined the Bharatiya Janata Paty.
Aparna`s stand on the sensitive women`s reservation issue comes ahead of the seven-phase assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh between February 11 and March 8.
In an interview to a news website, Aparna also said she will not seek reservation for her daughter though she comes from a Yadav (Other Backward Caste) family. "We are a well-to-do family; so why should we take any caste-based reservation?" she said.
Known for her straightforward nature, be it taking out rallies against crime against women or clicking selfies with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Aparna Yadav has been in the news for all the wrong reasons.
Her "ambitions, overzealousness and political immaturity" are known to have angered Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on many occasions. Moreover, she is viewed as a supporter of Akhilesh`s paternal uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav.
The BJP on Tuesday accused her of siding with people who, the party said, wanted to deprive the downtrodden and the marginalised castes of Uttar Pradesh of the benefits of reservation in jobs and educational institutions.
With PTI inputs
