A divorce call, then happy memories: When Prateek Yadav's marriage hit headlines

PRateek Yadav, Samajwadi company paterfamilias Mulayam Singh's boy with his endorse married woman Sadhna Gupta, died early Wednesday in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow at the age of 38. While Akhilesh Yadav's half-brother largely stayed away from politics despite coming from one of India's biggest political families, he was married to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Aparna Yadav.Prateek Yadav's death comes months after a family drama erupted in late Samajwadi Party (SP) founder Mulayam Singh Yadav's clan when he alleged that his wife Aparna is a "selfish woman" who he is going to divorce "as soon as possible".What's known about Prateek Yadav's deathConfirming the death, Lucknow Civil Hospital director Dr GP Gupta said information was received at around 5 am that Prateek Yadav was unwell, following which a team of doctors rushed to his residence.“When the doctors reached there, his condition appeared critical. He was brought to the hospital, and despite all efforts by the medical team, he was declared dead around 5.55 am,” an earlier HT report quoted Dr Gupta as saying. According to hospital sources, Prateek was brought to the Civil Hospital around 5.30 am.Civil Hospital director said a suspected poisoning angle will be probed after postmortem.When Prateek Yadav sought divorce from his BJP leader wifeIn two posts on his verified Instagram handle - iamprateekyadav - Prateek Yadav in January this year described his wife Aparna as a "family destroyer" and accused her of being self-centered and driven by fame and influence.Aparna Yadav, a BJP leader, is currently the vice chairperson of the Uttar Pradesh State Commission for Women. What sparked Prateek Yadav's outrage was not known, neither did the SP nor BJP reacted to the issue back then. Prateek and Aparna Yadav got married in 2011 and have a daughter together.Aparna Yadav joined the BJP in March 2022 and campaigned for the party.She was appointed vice chairperson of the state's women's commission in September 2024.Aparna Yadav had contested the 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections on an SP ticket from the Cantt seat in Lucknow but lost to Congress candidate Rita Bahuguna Joshi."I am going to divorce this selfish woman as soon as possible. She ruined my family ties… All she wants to become is famous and influential," Prateek wrote in one of his Instagram postsHe had said his mental health condition has taken a hit due to her. "Right now, i am very bad mental health condition and she doesn't bother. Because it's only herself she bothers about. I have never seen such a bad soul, and i was unfortunate to get married to her," he said. In another post from the same account, Prateek Yadav wrote back then, "Broke my relationship with my mother, broke my relationship with my father, broke my relationship with my brother. Wants to by only famous.""Biggest liar that I have seen in my life (i swear to my child). Biggest self interested person I have ever seen," the post further stated.Divorce posts removed, happy memories sharedThe relationship later appeared to have improved, with the couple seen happy together in several pictures posted on their social media handles. The posts where Prateek Yadav wrote about divorce were also removed. When asked about whether will file a complaint against her husband over the allegations in the Women's Commission regarding her divorce case, Dr Babita Singh Chauhan, chairperson of the body, had said back then, “This is her family matter and is a very private affair...”She has not approached the commission with this; she can make her own decisions, Dr Babita said.Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday expressed his condolences over the demise of Prateek Yadav and described it as “extremely heartbreaking”.“The sudden demise of Shri Prateek Yadav Ji, son of former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, 'Padma Vibhushan', the late Mulayam Singh Yadav Ji, and husband of Smt. Aparna Yadav Ji, Vice-Chairperson of the Uttar Pradesh State Women's Commission, is extremely heartbreaking. Humble tribute,” CM Yogi Adityanath said in a post on X.My condolences are with the bereaved family, he said, and prayed for strength to the grieving family to bear the loss.