Uttar Pradesh minister Jaiveer Singh has said the political stature of Mulayam Singh Yadav and Dimple Yadav is as different as the earth and the sky and claimed the BJP will win the Samajwadi Party's remaining bastion of Mainpuri in the December 5 Lok Sabha bypoll.

The SP has fielded party chief Akhilesh Yadav's wife Dimple Yadav as its candidate from the Mainpuri parliamentary seat, which fell vacant after the death of party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.

The seat had been represented by Mulayam Singh Yadav for five times since 1996 while other SP nominees have won it a number of times.

Singh said Samajwadi Party under Mulayam Singh Yadav was seen on the ground whereas under Akhilesh Yadav, it is being operated from air-conditioned rooms and visible only on Twitter.

The BJP legislator from Mainpuri said his party still considers Akhilesh's uncle Shivpal Yadav a part of the SP family and asserted that the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) chief will have to ensure SP's defeat to save his political future.

Shivpal Yadav's role in the Mainpuri bypoll is being watched keenly in political circles.

The PSPL president, who had parted ways with Akhilesh after the Uttar Pradesh assembly election results but was seen moving with the SP chief during rituals following Mulayam Singh Yadav's death, has said a final decision on his party's role in the bypoll will be taken in the next two-three days.

"If Shivpal Yadav has to save his political future, then he would have to ensure the defeat of SP, else he will cease to exist politically," Singh told PTI in an interview.

"She (Dimple Yadav) cannot be placed anywhere close to the stature of Mulayam Singh Yadav...The difference between them is like the earth and the sky," Singh said.

The state tourism minister said, "Samajwadi Party under Mulayam Singh Yadav was seen on the ground. However, at present (under Akhilesh Yadav), it operates on Twitter from air-conditioned rooms."

Singh, however, refrained from taking any names when asked who will challenge the SP candidate in Mainpuri from the BJP.

"The lotus will fight the polls, the lotus will win the by-polls and (eventually) the lotus will bloom. After Azamgarh and Rampur, it will be Mainpuri (in favour of the BJP). It will prepare a platform for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, enabling the party to win all the 80 seats in the state," he said.

Asked whether Dimple will draw sympathy votes in the by-elections following the demise of her father-in-law, Singh, who has served as a minister in Mulayam Yadav's government in the past, answered in the negative.

"Cutting across religious and caste lines, people are getting attracted towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath due to their policies and schemes. Breaking all barriers, people will vote for the BJP, and this will become a factor in our win," he said.

Singh claimed that bickering among each other still continues in the SP's first family.

"Dharmendra Yadav was seeking a ticket (for Mainpuri by-polls). Shivpal Yadav was exerting pressure and Tej Pratap Yadav too wanted to fight the by-election. The move behind giving a ticket to Dimple Yadav was to ensure that there is no dispute (within the family). But bickering among family members continues," he claimed.

He said since 2017, BJP's influence has been growing everywhere in the politically significant state and this was seen in Mainpuri too where Mulayam's victory margin came down in the 2019 general election.

"Before 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the victory margin of Mulayam Singh Yadav was in lakhs. But in 2019 general elections, the victory margin came down to thousands even though no prominent BJP leader campaigned in Mainpuri. Also in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the SP had contested with the BSP," he said.

On a question on PSPL chief, the BJP leader further said, "If he (Shivpal) comes with us, our victory margin will definitely be a big one, and if does not come to our side, even then we will win."

Shivpal's Jaswantnagar assembly constituency is part of Mainpuri Parliamentary segment.

On whether Aparna Yadav will be given the BJP ticket for the bypolls, the UP minister said this will be decided by the party.

Aparna Yadav, the younger daughter-in-law of the SP patriarch, met state BJP president Bhupendra Chaudhary on the day Dimple's name was made public by the SP, triggering speculation if the saffron party would put the bet on her.

The UP cabinet minister, however, ruled himself out as party candidate on the seat.

PTI