Prateek Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav's Younger Son, Dies at 38 in Lucknow Third Loss for the Yadav Family in Four Years

His death, confirmed at Civil Hospital at 5:55 a.m. on Wednesday, comes four months after a public Instagram post in which he said he was struggling with poor mental health and seeking a divorce a post that has since been deleted.

Prateek Yadav, the younger son of late Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav and stepbrother of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, died in Lucknow on Wednesday morning, May 13, at the age of 38 the third death within the Yadav family in less than four years.

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According to Civil Hospital director Dr GP Gupta, hospital authorities received information at approximately 5 a.m. that Prateek Yadav was unwell. A medical team rushed to his residence, but his condition had already turned serious. He was brought to Civil Hospital, where doctors declared him dead at 5:55 a.m. 

The exact cause of death has not yet been officially confirmed. Sources said Prateek Yadav had been ill for some time and was dealing with lung-related complications, and that he had a clot in his lungs and was undergoing treatment at Medanta Hospital. On Wednesday morning, his health reportedly worsened suddenly. 

A four-member team of doctors has been formed to conduct a post-mortem examination, and the entire procedure will be videographed. Civil Hospital director Dr Gupta said the precise cause of death would only become clear after the post-mortem report is released. 

Who Was Prateek Yadav

Prateek Yadav was the son of Sadhna Gupta, Mulayam Singh Yadav's second wife. Despite belonging to one of Uttar Pradesh's most prominent political families, he stayed away from active politics throughout his life, focusing instead on business and fitness ventures. 

Prateek and Aparna got engaged in 2011 and married in 2012, in what was considered one of Uttar Pradesh's most high-profile weddings, attended by Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, and Anil Ambani. The couple have a daughter. 

Aparna Yadav left the Samajwadi Party ahead of the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. She was appointed Vice Chairperson of the Uttar Pradesh State Women's Commission in September 2024. 

The Final Months: Mental Health, Divorce Announcement, and Reconciliation

What has received little focus in early coverage is the sequence of events in the months immediately preceding Prateek's death. In January 2026, he made a public announcement on Instagram that he intended to divorce Aparna Yadav.

In the post, Prateek wrote: "I am going to divorce this selfish woman as soon as possible. She ruined my family ties. All she wants to become is famous and influential." He further claimed he was struggling with poor mental health and alleged that Aparna showed no concern for his condition. 

However, days after the post went viral, Prateek appeared to take a U-turn, indicating reconciliation and lashing out at social media trolls. That post has also since been deleted. According to The Week, in January the couple filed a divorce petition but did not pursue the case further. The Instagram post announcing the divorce is no longer accessible, with the page showing it may have been removed. 

Condolences Across Party Lines

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed grief on X, writing: "The sudden demise of Shri Prateek Yadav Ji, son of former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, 'Padma Vibhushan' late Mulayam Singh Yadav Ji, and husband of Smt. Aparna Yadav Ji, Vice-Chairperson of the Uttar Pradesh State Women's Commission, is extremely heartbreaking." 

Reacting to his stepbrother's death, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said: "I have known Prateek since childhood. Today, he is no longer with us. We are deeply saddened by this. He wanted to move forward in life and work. It is heartbreaking that he is not with us today. We will abide by whatever the law and family members say."

The Third Loss in Four Years

Prateek's death is the third significant loss for the Yadav family since 2022. Mulayam Singh Yadav's second wife and Prateek's mother, Sadhna Gupta, died at Medanta Hospital in Gurugram in July 2022 after a prolonged illness. Mulayam Singh Yadav himself died at the same hospital on October 10, 2022, at the age of 82. Prateek Yadav, who was 38, now becomes the third member of the immediate family to die within that period.

The post-mortem report, which will be the official determination of cause of death, had not been released at the time of publication.