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Akhilesh Yadav is currently being accused of several things, including rebelling against father Mulayam Singh Yadav and uncle Shivpal Yadav, and taking apart the party that his father had put together over the years. Sometimes it seemed like he is close to winning the power struggles and sometimes it looked like he is losing the battle.
Throughout the turbulence, the one person who has always been by Akhilesh’s side is his wife Dimple Yadav.
Not only did Dimple take care of the household and help in reducing the rift in the family, she also handled the social media activities for the Yadav family. Through Facebook and Twitter, Dimple helped revamp the party’s image and evoke sympathy for Akhilesh. While the Yadav family fought, Dimple was involved in an aggressive social media campaign where she successfully changed the image of Akhilesh Yadav and helped increase his popularity.
The conspiracy being planned against Akhilesh in the Samajwadi Party came to the fore in October for the first time. Akhilesh had said that Amar Singh had conspired to remove him from the post of Chief Minister. His uncle Shivpal Yadav too got involved in a fight with his nephew.
Dimple Yadav very sensibly dealt with the situation. She did not say a word against Amar Singh and Shivpal Yadav which prevented the fight from escalating, and helped Akhilesh clarify differences with Mulayam.
It is said that Mulayam Singh Yadav has always stood in the way of Dimple Yadav. Initially he was against Akhilesh and Dimple’s marriage, but later Amar Singh convinced Mulayam to give in. After their marriage in 1999, while Akhilesh and Dimple planned their honeymoon, the by-elections were announced. Following this, Mulayam gave the responsibility of securing the seat from Kannauj to Akhilesh.
In 2009, when Akhilesh was about to give up the Firozabad seat to contest from Kannauj, he advised Dimple to contest from the former. However, this proposal was opposed by Mulayam.
In 2010, Mulayam protested against the Congress’ effort to get the Parliament to pass the bill for women’s reservation.
However, even this did not change the stand of Samajwadi Party and the Yadav clan for Dimple’s entry in the politics. Dimple, with her army background, believes in keeping the Yadav clan united. This is why not only has she managed to hold her ground against Mulayam but has also managed to keep the party and the Yadav family united.
(This story originally appeared on QuintHindi.)
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Published: 06 Jan 2017,07:06 PM IST