Mulayam gets Covid jab BJP 'hopes' Akhilesh will take inspiration from him

Lucknow Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav got himself vaccinated against Covid-19 at a private hospital here on Monday, the party said. "Today, Samajwadi Party founder and former defense minister got himself vaccinated," the Samajwadi Party tweeted from its official handle with a photograph of the leader.

The party did not elaborate whether he got his first dose of the vaccine or the second. Yadav, 81, was administered the vaccine at the Medanta Hospital. The BJP's Uttar Pradesh unit described Yadav getting himself vaccinated as a "good message" and took a swipe at Akhilesh Yadav, saying SP workers and its president should take inspiration from him. "A good message... Hope SP workers and its national president will also take inspiration from their party founder," State BJP president Swatantra Dev Singh said in a tweet. In January, Akhilesh Yadav had termed the anti-coronavirus vaccines as "vaccine of the BJP" and said he would not take the shot, drawing a sharp retort from the ruling party which accused him of 'insulting' the doctors and scientists. Later, he had clarified that he never insulted the scientists who developed the vaccines.