Akhilesh, Shivpal to celebrate Holi in native village

Lucknow, March 24 : After a gap of almost eight years, vibrant colours of Holi will mark the celebrations in the Mulayam Singh Yadav family in Uttar Pradesh’s Etawah this year.

On Sunday, the Yadav family members will exchange Holi greetings with the people using flower petals and present a show of unity.

This show of unity is especially significant for four family members — Shivpal Yadav (Badaun), Dimple Yadav (Mainpuri), Akshay Yadav (Firozabad) and Dhamendra Yadav (Azamgarh) — who are seeking election to the Lok Sabha.

“The people of Etawah, who are our family, will bless the candidates and pray for their success. The festival, therefore, assumes greater significance. After Holi, everyone will move to their constituencies to begin their campaign. It is going to be a really happy Holi for us,” said a family member.

Celebrations in the family have been marked by undercurrents of tension since 2016 when the now-famous feud began between Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle Shivpal Yadav. The divisions within the family were palpable though they did attend the Holi celebrations.

After the demise of family patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav in October 2022, the Holi celebrations in 2023 were subdued and muted.

However, this year, the family is back together with their differences ironed out and all set to contest the Lok Sabha polls, hand in hand.

The Holi festivities in Saifai was a tradition that was introduced by Mulayam Singh Yadav when he first became an MLA from Jaswant Nagar in 1967.

The event grew bigger after he became the UP Chief Minister for the first time in 1989 and was scaled up further after 1992 when he founded the Samajwadi Party.

Meanwhile, family sources said that Mulayam Singh’s younger son Prateek Yadav and daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav are likely to give the family Holi celebrations a miss.

Aparna has moved to the BJP and there was a buzz that she could be contesting the Lok Sabha polls against Dimple Yadav from Mainpuri.

Moreover, after the demise of Mulayam Singh, Prateek and his wife have been seen maintaining a distance from Akhilesh Yadav and his family.