Another MSY kin joins politics

KANPUR: Yet another kin of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has jumped on the political bandwagon in Uttar Pradesh.
Abhishek Yadav alias Anshul, a management graduate, will make his electoral debut in the forthcoming panchayat polls in the state. The son of Rajpal Yadav, Mulayam’s younger brother, he is the 12th member from the Yadav clan to join politics.
Sources close to the Yadavs in Etawah said the 26-year-old Anshul would file nomination for membership of the district development council (DDC) on Saturday. They said the party had put a seat in Saifai ward-II in Etawah ‘on hold’ for the MBA degree holder. Anshul’s mother, Premlata, is chairman of the district panchayat.
Six members of the Yadav clan are active in national politics: Mulayam, his daughter-in-law Dimple, nephew Dharmendra, grandnephew Tej Pratap, cousin Ram Gopal and latter’s son Akshay Yadav. Mulayam’s son Akhilesh, brother Shivpal, latter’s son Aditya Pratap, sister-in-law Premlata and nephew late Ranveer Singh took the plunge in state and local politics.
The SP’s Etawah unit has been vocal in asking for Anshul to contest for DDC’s membership from Saifai ward-II. There are a total of 24 DDC members in Etawah who elect from among themselves the chairman of the district panchayat. The post has remained with the Yadav family for quite a number of years. Mulayam’s cousin and Rajya Sabha MP Ramgopal Yadav, too, held it in the past.
Ashok Yadav, president of the SP’s Etawah unit, confirmed Anshul would be contesting the polls.