Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday announced that he will not take part in public functions for three days after his family members tested positive for Covid-19.
Among the programmes that Yadav will skip will be a joint rally of the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal at the town of Iglas in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh district.
Dimple Yadav, former Lok Sabha MP and the wife of the Samajwadi Party chief, announced on Wednesday that she had tested positive for Covid-19. Subsequently, the Uttar Pradesh chief minister’s office stated that their daughter also tested positive for the coronavirus.
Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday said that he will not take part in public functions for three days as a precautionary measure. “I give my best wishes for the success of the SP-RLD joint rally at Iglas, and appeal to all workers to take part in it with enthusiasm and energy,” he said on Twitter.
Yadav also shared his negative test result for Covid-19.
On November 23, the Rashtriya Lok Dal had announced an alliance with the Samajwadi Party for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, expected to be held early next year.
In the past few months, Yadav has announced alliances with several other regional parties as well. These include the Om Prakash Rajbhar-led Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, the Mahan Dal and the Janwadi Party (Socialist).
Last month, Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh also said that the party was discussing a seat-sharing agreement with the Samajwadi Party.
In the 2017 Uttar Pradesh elections, the BJP had emerged victorious by winning 312 seats. The Samajwadi Party had won 47 seats, while the Bahujan Samaj Party had won 19 seats in the 403-member Legislative Assembly.
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