Dimple Yadav, Samajwadi Party, Uttar Pradesh, chief minister, Akhilesh Yadav
Reuters

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's wife Dimple has undeniably injected colour into an otherwise dull election campaign in the state for ruling Samajwadi Party. With her hard work, simplicity, and progressive yet traditional demure, the 39-year-old has given a facelift to the party. And gradually she has also assumed the role of a star campaigner for the party in the elections being conducted in seven phases.

Here's why Dimple Yadav is turning out to be the star campaigner for the Samajwadi Party

During the recent Samajwadi Party feud, not only did Dimple take care of the household and help in reducing the rift in the family, she had also handled the social media activities for the Yadav family. Through Facebook and Twitter, Dimple helped revamp the party's image and evoke sympathy for Akhilesh.

While the Yadav family fought, Dimple was involved in a social media campaign where she successfully changed the image of Akhilesh and helped increase his popularity.

When asked about Dimple's support during the family feud, Akhilesh said in a Facebook interview, "Who else can you trust or believe in such difficult times? Only your wife can stand by you in such crisis."

UP is a crucial state for national politics as it has 80 Lok Sabha seats out of the total 543 seats in the Parliament. Therefore, the Assembly elections garner interest and also pull all the national parties to give in their best.

Dimple has also been addressing rallies, during which she has asked voters, women in particular, to give the UP CM another chance to lead the state. She is articulate on the issues of law and order and women's security — areas that have been the target of barbs from both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party.

In one of the rallies, Dimple even took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi by taunting with the lyrics Amitabh Bachchan's film Laawaris. "Mere angne mein tumhara kya kaam hai. Jo hai naam wala, wahi to badnaam hai," she said.

Dimple also said that people do 'Mann ki Baat' for hours, but never do 'Kaam ki Baat.'

So far, Dimple has addressed over 15 rallies covering Assembly seats in Agra, Kanpur, Lucknow, Hardoi, Sitapur and Lakhimpur. And the reception she receives resembles those reserved for Bollywood stars.

Dimple, the second of three daughters of a retired Indian Army officer, hails from Uttarakhand and graduated in commerce from Lucknow University. She met Akhilesh when they were students. Originally Akhilesh's family was opposed to their marriage, but they agreed after Akhilesh's grandmother approved. They got married when Dimple was aged 21.

In 2009, Dimple had unsuccessfully contested the by-election for the Lok Sabha constituency of Firozabad against actor-turned-politician Raj Babbar. The by-election was caused by Akhilesh winning a seat in the May 2009 general elections both in Firozabad as well as in Kannauj and taking up his seat from Kannauj.

Prior to her entry into politics, Dimple was also involved in a disproportionate wealth case along with her family members. She was also elected unopposed from the Kannauj constituency to the Lok Sabha in 2012, after Akhilesh caused another by-election by vacating the seat to enter the Uttar Pradesh legislative council. This had made her the first woman from Uttar Pradesh to be elected unopposed in a Lok Sabha by-election.