On the morning of May 13, 2026, shocking news came out of Lucknow. Prateek Yadav, the younger son of late Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav, passed away. He was just 38 years old.
He was rushed to the Civil Hospital in Lucknow. But when he arrived, doctors declared him “brought dead.” The exact cause of death is still unknown. A post-mortem is currently underway, and authorities say the final cause will be confirmed once the medical report is out.
For now, his family, his fans, and even his critics are in shock.
Who Was Prateek Yadav?
To understand why this loss matters, you need to first understand who Prateek Yadav really was.
He was born on July 7, 1987, in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. His father was Mulayam Singh Yadav, one of the most powerful political figures in Indian history. His mother was Sadhna Gupta, Mulayam’s second wife. That made him the half-brother of Akhilesh Yadav, the current chief of the Samajwadi Party.
However, Prateek was nothing like his family. While his relatives debated elections and constituencies, he was lifting weights and building businesses. He simply wasn’t interested in politics. And he made that clear.
He completed his early schooling in Dehradun. He then went to the United Kingdom and earned an MBA from Leeds University. When he came back to India, he didn’t walk into his father’s party. Instead, he walked into the world of entrepreneurship.
The Boy Who Fought His Own Battles Early
Prateek’s journey wasn’t easy from the start. As a child, he suffered from pneumonia. The steroids prescribed during treatment caused his weight to spike dramatically. By the age of 11, he weighed 103 kg.
That early struggle with his body, however, became the fuel for his later obsession with fitness. He turned pain into purpose. He trained hard, lost the weight, and eventually turned fitness into both a passion and a profession.
That’s a story many people can connect with.
The Businessman Behind the Political Last Name
In 2015, Prateek launched Iron Core Fit, a premium gymnasium in Gomti Nagar — one of Lucknow’s most upscale areas. The gym wasn’t just a business. It reflected who he was. It was equipped with top-of-the-line American machinery, and it attracted serious fitness enthusiasts.
His father, Mulayam Singh Yadav, personally inaugurated the gym. That moment must have meant something — a father from the rough world of UP politics, standing in his son’s fitness studio.
Beyond fitness, Prateek also built a strong presence in real estate. His personal assets were estimated at over Rs 19 crore. He owned commercial and residential properties in Lucknow. His annual income was reported to be around Rs 1.5 crore. He drove a blue Lamborghini Huracán worth roughly Rs 5 crore and a Porsche Panamera.
He lived loudly, but he did so on his own terms.
The Softer Side: Jeev Aashraya Foundation
Not everything about Prateek was fast cars and heavy lifts. He also ran Jeev Aashraya, an NGO focused on animal welfare and environmental protection. He cared about rescuing, treating, and protecting animals.
That’s a side of him most people never knew about. It shows that behind the flashy lifestyle was a man who also felt deeply for those who couldn’t speak for themselves.
His Marriage to Aparna Yadav
Prateek met Aparna Bisht back in 2001, at a birthday party. He reportedly got her email ID that day and expressed his feelings. They dated for nearly a decade before tying the knot.
Their wedding in December 2011 was one of the most talked-about events in Uttar Pradesh. Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, and Anil Ambani were among the guests. The couple had two daughters — Prathama Yadav and Katyayani Yadav.
For years, they seemed to represent a balance of two worlds. Prateek, the private businessman. Aparna, the politically ambitious woman. But that balance eventually cracked.
The Divorce Controversy That Made Headlines in 2026
Just a few months ago, in January 2026, Prateek shook the internet. He posted a deeply personal message on Instagram, publicly announcing that he intended to divorce Aparna.
In the post, he called her selfish. He said she had damaged his family ties. He admitted that his mental health was in a bad place. He felt alone, unsupported, and wronged.
The post went viral instantly. People had opinions. Some felt for him. Others questioned why he aired something so private on social media.
Aparna’s side responded quickly. Her team claimed the Instagram account had been hacked. Her brother, Aman Bisht, said the post was fake and described it as a deliberate attempt to create family discord.
What was true and what wasn’t — only they knew. But the split between them had clearly been building for a long time. Aparna joined the BJP in January 2022, a move that Prateek reportedly felt had created a divide within the family.
Moreover, in 2025, Prateek filed a police complaint in Lucknow, alleging extortion and blackmail. Those legal troubles only added to the turmoil in his personal life.
A Family Already Marked by Loss
Loss was not new to the Yadav family. Mulayam Singh Yadav — the patriarch — passed away on October 10, 2022. His second wife, Sadhna Gupta, who was Prateek’s mother, had died just months earlier in July 2022.
So, within a span of a few months in 2022, Prateek lost both parents. That kind of grief leaves marks that don’t fade easily.
And now, just four years later, Prateek himself is gone. At 38.
What Happens Next
The post-mortem report will tell us more about how he died. Until then, the cause remains uncertain.
What we do know is this: Prateek Yadav was a man who tried to carve his own identity in the shadow of a towering political family. He mostly succeeded. He built businesses, chased fitness, loved animals, drove supercars, and lived his truth — even when that truth was complicated.
He wasn’t a politician. He wasn’t trying to be one. And perhaps that is exactly what made him stand out.
The Yadav family, already weakened by grief, now faces yet another loss. Aparna Yadav, whatever the state of their relationship, has lost the man she married. Their daughters have lost their father.
India has lost someone who proved that you don’t need a political ticket to make a mark.
This is a developing story. Details about the cause of death are awaited pending the post-mortem report.
