Mulayam Singh Yadav,
Samajwadi Party patriarch and three-time Uttar Pradesh chief minister, died on
Monday, October 10 at Gurugram’s Medanta Hospital. A few months prior to
Mulayam’s death, his second wife, Sadhna Gupta also died at the same hospital a
few months ago following a prolonged illness.

Also Read | Mulayam Singh Yadav, Samajwadi Party founder, dies at 82

Who was Sadhna
Gupta?

Sadhna Gupta was a
resident of Bidhuna Tehsil of Etawah district in Uttar Pradesh, the same
district from where Mulayam Singh belonged. She married Chandra Prakash Gupta
from Farrukhabad in 1986. A year later, the couple gave birth to their only son
Prateek. Sadhna and Chandra Prakash decided to separate two years after their
marriage.

Also Read | Who was Mulayam Singh Yadav?

Sadhna Gupta and
Mulayam Singh Yadav initiated a clandestine romance in the 1990s. Mulayam, at
the time, was still married to Malti Devi. Malti Devi is Yadav’s only son
Akhilesh Yadav’s mother. While giving birth to Akhilesh in 1974, Malti slipped
into a vegetative state. She remained in that state until her death in 2003.

Also Read | Who was Malti Devi, Mulayam Singh Yadav’s first wife?

Meanwhile, Mulayam
Singh and Sadhna Gupta’s relationship remained an open secret. It was only in
2007 when Mulayam and Sadhna’s marriage came to the fore through a submission
in the Supreme Court of India. The exact date of their marriage remains a
secret.

Also Read | Who is Aparna Yadav, Prateek Yadav’s wife and Mulayam Singh’s daughter in law?

Sadhna Gupta was 20
years younger than Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Prateek, Sadhna
Gupta’s son from her first marriage, who later came to be called Prateek Yadav,
mentioned Mulayam Singh Yadav as his father in his school application back in
1994.  

Also Read | Mulayam Singh Yadav death: The Yadav family in Uttar Pradesh politics

Prateek Yadav is
married to Aparna Yadav, who stepped into politics through the Samajwadi Party
(SP) and later switched to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).