Congress leader Raashid Alvi backed Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav after the latter had said that he will not get vaccinated against COVID-19 for now as the "BJP government cannot be trusted."
"I will not say that Akhilesh Yadav's statements are wrong. His doubts are valid," Alvi told reporters here.
Alvi, however, added that there is no danger to the common people from the COVID vaccine but "there will be apprehension among opposition leaders".
Alvi condemned remarks of controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik in which he reportedly said that "temples should not be allowed in an Islamic country" in the context of demolition of a Hindu temple in Pakistan.
"Zakir Naik's statement is condemnable. If non-Muslims cannot make places of worship in an Islamic country then how could Muslims make places of worship in a country where they are in the minority. Zakir Naik's statements are against Muslims themselves and any amount of condemnation of these statements is not enough," he added.
Amid the dry run of coronavirus vaccine taking place in the country, Yadav on Saturday said that he will not get vaccinated against coronavirus for now as the "BJP government cannot be trusted".
"I will not take the COVID-19 vaccine at this moment. That too given by Bharatiya Janata Party. How can I trust BJP's vaccine, not a chance. When our government will be formed, everyone will get a free vaccine. We cannot take the BJP vaccine," he said at a press conference in Lucknow.
The Union Health Ministry is carrying out the dry run is to assess operational feasibility in the use of COVID Vaccine Intelligence Network (Co-WIN) application in a field environment, test the linkages between planning and implementation and to identify the challenges and guide the way forward prior to actual implementation.
( With inputs from ANI )
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