Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav’s daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav joined the BJP on January 19.

She joined the party in the presence of Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and and its State chief Swatantra Dev Singh.

Ms. Yadav is married to Prateek Yadav, son of Mulayam Singh Yadav’s second wife while Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav is his son from his first marriage.

Also read: Akhilesh dismisses speculation about sister-in-law joining BJP

Ms. Yadav said she has always been impressed with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and added that the nation’s interest has always been her priority.

There had been much speculation about her joining the BJP, and the development highlights the rift in the Samajwadi Party’s ruling family at a time when Akhilesh Yadav has been working to rally the party’s base in the run up to the state assembly polls.

The BJP may field her in the polls, sources said.

Ms. Yadav had contested the 2017 assembly polls on the Samajwadi Party ticket from Lucknow Cantonment but had lost to BJP’s Rita Bahuguna Joshi, now a Lok Sabha member.

Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases beginning from February 10.