YOGI FIRST NON-YADAV, NON-SP CM TO VISIT SAIFAI
Those who once opposed Covid-19 vaccine demanding it now, says Adityanath
KANPUR : Yogi Adityanath on Saturday became the first non-Samajwadi Party (SP) and non-Yadav chief minister to visit Saifai, the ancestral village of SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav and party chief Akhilesh Yadav, both former chief ministers.
The CM went to the Saifai Medical University and reviewed Covid-19 related treatment facilities.
KANPUR: Yogi Adityanath on Saturday became the first nonSamajwadi Party (SP) and nonYadav chief minister to visit Saifai, the ancestral village of SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav and party chief Akhilesh Yadav, both former chief ministers.
In his over two-hour long stay, Yogi Adityanath went to the Saifai Medical University, reviewed the Covid-19 related treatment facilities and met a number of people there.
During his press briefing, the chief minister lashed out at the Opposition and said that those who once opposed the Covid-19 vaccine were demanding it now.
“Those opposing the vaccine were getting themselves vaccinated. The people have come out in support of vaccine. This is the only safeguard,” he said in an apparent reference to SP chief Akhilesh Yadav’s statement a few months ago that he would “not take the BJP vaccine”.
Adityanath’s visit elicited a sharp reaction from the rival camp with Akhilesh Yadav questioning it.
Saifai remains central to the politics of the Yadav clan, which dominates the political landscape in the region.
Before Adityanath, no serving non-SP chief minister— not even Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati visited village, which has grown both in size, structure and infrastructure.
In 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had attended the wedding of Mulayam Singh Yadav’s grand nephew Tej Pratap Yadav in Saifai.
Tej Pratap had tied the knot with Raj Lakshmi, daughter of former Bihar chief ministers Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi. Modi was given a warm welcome by both Mulayam Singh and Lalu Yadav, his political rivals.
Earlier in the day, the chief minister met officials and public representatives and expressed happiness over the pace of vaccination in Etawah.
Etawah district had been provided with 1.20 lakh doses of vaccine, he said.
He inaugurated an oxygen plant at the medical university. An army team repaired the plant, which was not operational for the last five years.
Akhilesh Yadav’s uncle and Pragatisheel Samajwadi PartyLohia (PSP-L) chief Shivpal Yadav wrote to the government on the matter at the height of the oxygen crisis in the second wave.
The CM also made a surprise visit to Giza village, where he enquired about the well-being of people.