Akhilesh makes U-turn, says will take jab
A day before, former UP chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav took his first vaccine dose against coronavirus disease
LUCKNOW : Making a U-turn, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday announced he will take a jab against the coronavirus disease. The change in stance comes after he had said in January that he would not take the vaccine. At that time, he had called it a “BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) vaccine” but he referred to it as the “government of India” vaccine on Tuesday. “I will get vaccinated and also request those who couldn’t get a shot due to shortage of jabs, to get inoculated as well,” he said.
LUCKNOW: Making a U-turn, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday announced he will take the jab against the coronavirus disease.
The change in stance comes after about five months after he had said in January that he would not take the shot against Covid-19. At that time, he had called it a “BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) vaccine” but he referred to it as the “government of India” vaccine on Tuesday.
“Sensing people’s anger, the Central government finally, instead of politicising the Covid-19 vaccine, announced it would provide vaccines against Covid-19. We were against the BJP vaccine, but I welcome the government of India’s vaccine,” a rough translation of Akhilesh Yadav’s tweet in Hindi read.
“I will get vaccinated and also request those who couldn’t get a shot due to shortage of jabs, to get inoculated as well,” he said.
The tweet was in reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation on Monday when he said the Centre will procure the doses for the states and announced free vaccinations for all adults in the country.
A day before, Akhilesh Yadav’s father and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav took his first vaccine dose against the coronavirus disease at a hospital in Gurugram. Mulayam’s younger daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav was the first among the close family members to take the jab on May 19. “SP chief patron and former chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav ji, thank you for taking the jab of the swadeshi (indigenous) vaccine. That you took the vaccine is a testimony that the SP national president Akhilesh Yadav spread a rumour about the vaccine. Akhilesh ji should apologise for it,” Keshav Prasad Maurya, BJP leader and Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister, tweeted in Hindi on Monday.
In January, Akhilesh Yadav, also a former UP chief minister, had said thrice he won’t take the “BJP’s vaccine.”
When the BJP leaders accused Akhilesh of insulting the Indian scientists and researchers, the SP chief had yet again called it the “BJP vaccine”.
He had maintained that he would not take the jab but added: “We have full confidence in the abilities of our scientists, but we don’t have any faith in the BJP’s unscientific mentality, as well as its vaccination system which has become dormant during these Covid-19 times. I will not take this political vaccine. The SP government, when it comes to power in 2022, will provide free vaccines to all,” he had said.
The BJP, which has governments in the state and at the Centre, defeated the Samajwadi Party in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections and came to power.
Uttar Pradesh will vote early next year, and the state government’s handling of the Covid-19 situation is likely to be a major factor in the polls.