Prateek Yadav, who died in Lucknow on May 13, 2026, was known as the low-profile younger half-brother of Akhilesh Yadav and the son of late Mulayam Singh Yadav and his second wife Sadhana Gupta.
Despite belonging to one of Uttar Pradesh’s most influential political families, Prateek,38, largely stayed away from active politics and chose to focus on business, fitness and real estate ventures. Within political circles, he was regarded as someone who preferred a private life over the spotlight that surrounded the Yadav clan.
Prateek married Aparna Yadav in 2011. Aparna later entered electoral politics, contesting the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election from Lucknow Cantonment on a Samajwadi Party ticket before joining the BJP in 2022. She currently serves as vice chairperson of the Uttar Pradesh State Commission for Women. The couple had a daughter together.
Prateek Yadav had made headlines earlier this year after publicly announcing his decision to divorce Aparna Yadav through a series of social media posts. In strongly worded messages, he accused her of damaging his family relationships and affecting his mental health.
“I am going to divorce this selfish woman as soon as possible,” he wrote in one of the posts, alleging that she had “ruined” his ties with family members.
His death comes months after the public fallout drew attention within political and social circles, though neither the Samajwadi Party nor the Bharatiya Janata Party had officially reacted to the dispute at the time.
The sudden death of Prateek Yadav has raised several questions after his postmortem reportedly revealed six injuries on his body, some older and some recent.
Prateek Yadav, the younger son of late Mulayam Singh Yadav and half-brother of Akhilesh Yadav, died at the age of 38 after reportedly falling ill at his Lucknow residence.
According to the autopsy report, Prateek Yadav's sudden demise was caused by a cardiorespiratory collapse resulting from a massive pulmonary thromboembolism, or a severe blood clot.
Mulayam Singh Yadav’s daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday. Aparna Yadav is married to Prateek Yadav, son of Mulayam Singh Yadav's second wife. Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) recovered Rs 4 crore cash from Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s nephew Bhupinder Singh Honey's residence. The ED raided over 10 locations in the state, including the premises of CM Channi's nephew in Mohali.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav will contest in the UP assembly election 2022, news agency ANI reported. Yadav, the Azamgarh MP, never contested in the assembly election of the state before. Meanwhile, Mulayam Singh Yadav’s daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday. Aparna Yadav is married to Prateek Yadav, son of Mulayam Singh Yadav's second wife.
