Mulayam's wife Sadhna denies rift in family, says no step-motherly treatment to Akhilesh

Etawah: After Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, his second wife – Sadhna – has now come out to dispel rumours about a deep divide in Uttar Pradesh's first family.

Breaking her silence on the Yadav family feud for the first time, Sadhna Gupta said, "Akhilesh is my son and I am her mother." 

Sadhna made these remarks after casting her vote in Saifai in Jaswantnagar Vidhansabha constituency of Etawah on Sunday.

Sadhna also came down heavily on those allegedly trying to create a rift in the Yadav family. "The word stepmother which has been used by people is entirely wrong. I do not know who is behind all this, but they are very bad people," Sadhna said.

Interestingly, Sadhna was accompanied by Mulayam's daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav.

The signs of thaw in Mulayam's immediate family were evident in the last one week with both Akhilesh and his wife Dimple Yadav campaigning for Aparna Yadav, who is seeking election from Lucknow Cantt. 

Aparna is married to Mulayam's second son Prateek and is pitted against BJP's Rita Bahuguna Joshi who had crossed over to the BJP from the Congress just before elections.

"Akhilesh and Prateek are my two eyes. How does it feel if one eye is injured," she said.

On being asked about allegations made by SP MLC and Akhilesh aide Udayveer Singh, Sadhna said,"He is an ill-mannered man. I can not even take his name."

Interestingly, despite tall claims by senior SP figures, Akhilesh's uncle Shivpal turned up late at the polling booth to cast his vote in Saifai. 

Through the day, he was accompanied by his son Aditya to polling stations across the constituency.

Later addressing a press conference, Shivpal told media persons that administration worked against him at the behest of someone to damage his prospects.

On being asked if he would be campaigning in the next four phases of the UP polls, Shivpal said he would be taking a call on the issue in the next couple of days.

Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav did not campaign for uncle Shivpal in the elections though he held rallies in nearly all other nearby seats.