File photo of Aparna Yadav

LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party (SP) patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav's 'choti bahu' Aparna Yadav has said Ram temple should be built at the disputed site in Ayodhya. Aparna, who had contested the 2017 assembly elections on a SP ticket from Lucknow, however, added that she has faith in the Supreme Court.

"But I support construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya," she said. The Supreme Court had, on Monday, adjourned the hearing in the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit case till January 2019.

Married to Mulayam's younger son Prateek Yadav, Aparna said that she has faith in the Supreme Court, which will take up the matter in January next year. "Ram ka mandir banna to chahiye ... lekin ab jo bhi court ka nirnaye hoga ... woh mana jayega" (Ram temple should be built...but the court's verdict on the issue will be accepted). Asked if she was with the BJP on the issue of Ram temple, Aparna said, "I am with Ram." She went on to add that her support for the temple construction was also based on the premise that Ram Janambhoomi finds a mention in Hindu scriptures.

Talking about her political preferences in the light of uncle Shivpal Yadav launching a separate political outfit distancing himself from SP which had given a ticket to Aparna in the 2017 assembly polls, Aparna said if given a chance she would contest the elections from uncle Shivpal's party "as he was elder". This was the first time that Aparna said she will side with uncle Shivpal and not SP chief and Prateek's elder brother Akhilesh Yadav who is heading the SP.

