Dimple Yadav, wife of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, filed her nomination from the Kannauj Lok Sabha seat on Thursday. She also addressed a public meeting with her husband in the constituency.
Sharing the stage with the couple was Ruby Dhalla, former Canadian MP and one of the most prominent Canadians of Indian descent.
Mr. Yadav said Ms. Dhalla was in India as her country was “closely following” the general election here.
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, to Punjabi Sikh immigrant parents, Ms. Dhalla entered Canada’s House of Commons in 2004 as a Liberal lawmaker, serving for seven years as an MP.
During her term as an MP, “Ms. Dhalla advocated the rights of immigrants in Canada and also raised money for charities to help victims of natural disasters in Asia, including the 2004 tsunami and the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan,” the International Business Times reported in 2013.
Ms. Dhalla accompanied Ms. Yadav to the District Collector’s office where she filed her nomination papers.
Earlier in the day, Ms. Yadav, in a veiled attack at BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, said: “Some leaders are in the habit of making lofty speeches as they cannot find any other way of securing Delhi.” She appealed to the crowd to make ‘Netaji’ (Mulayam Singh) the Prime Minister.
