Mulayam Singh turns son's wedding into show of strength

ETAWAH: Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav turned the wedding of his younger son on Sunday into a veritable show of strength, signalling that he remains a force to reckon with in the run-up to assembly elections in the state.

Yadav assembled over one lakh guests at a time when public attention seems riveted on the sharp exchanges between Mayawati, chief minister and leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party, and the Congress scion Rahul Gandhi who is striving to revive his party in the state.

Bollywood stars, including Amitabh Bachchan and his wife Jaya, and corporate bigwigs such as Reliance ADAG chairman Anil Ambani and Sahara India head Subrata Roy, flew down to Yadav’s native village Saifai in Uttar Pradesh’s southwestern Etawah district.
Their presence scotched speculations that have done the rounds ever since Amar Singh, Yadav’s former associate who introduced him to the Bollywood and corporate personalities, was expelled from the party last year.

Amar Singh and his protégé, Bollywood star and Lok Sabha member Jaya Prada, were expelled from the party following a bitter falling out after the party’s poor showing among the critical Muslim vote base in the last Lok Sabha polls. Yadav also welcomed Muslim leader Azam Khan back into the party.

Since then, the party appears to have gone in for a course correction to reconnect with the masses, with Yadav’s elder son and state president of the party Akhilesh Yadav travelling through the state over the past couple of months.

On Sunday, Yadav personally welcomed at the busy airstrip in his village the celebrity guests who had come to bless his younger son Prateek, an MBA from Leeds, who married Aparna Bisht, daughter of a senior Lucknowbased journalist. The reception is scheduled to be held in Lucknow on Wednesday.