Mulayam Singh's condition improves, swine flu suspected (Third Lead)

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav who was admitted to a private hospital in Gurgaon on Saturday for suspected swine flu is recovering "well", his son and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said.

"Netaji (Mulayam Singh) has recovered well. I thank you all for the good wishes and blessings for his speedy recovery," the chief minister tweeted.

Sources said Mulayam Singh was brought to the hospital at 1.30 a.m. on Saturday.

According to doctors, he had symptoms of swine flu and has been tested for the same. However, the results of the tests had not come till 6 p.m. on Saturday.

A.K. Dubey, medical superintendent of the hospital, told IANS: "The test results have not come yet. But he is responding well to the medicines being administered."

"His condition is better now than what it was when he came to the hospital," he said. "His parameters are stable but we can't say when he will be discharged."

A team of doctors headed by Sushila Kataria is monitoring the condition of the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and former union minister.

He is also undergoing tests under the supervision of cardiologist Naresh Trehan, a party spokesman said.

"Mulayam Singh was undergoing some tests at Medanta under the supervision of Naresh Trehan," Rajendra Chowdhary, party spokesman and cabinet minister, said in Lucknow on Saturday.

"Doctors have advised him rest for three days and there is no reason to worry over his health," he added.

Family sources said he complained of unease, high fever and breathlessness for most of the week.

The family and close aides initially mistook it to be exhaustion following a hectic month due to the marriage of Mainpuri MP Tej Pratap, his grandnephew, and his engagement with the budget session in parliament.

Yadav has been unwell for the past few days and had taken ill on Wednesday noon after which he was admitted to the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI) in Lucknow.

Top doctors reviewed his condition and suggested some more tests, including those for swine flu, an insider told IANS.

He was discharged late Thursday on account of Holi but was advised to "take complete rest, not to mingle with crowds and to take light food".

Yadav was earlier scheduled to go to Saifai, his native village for the routine Holi celebrations, but the trip was cancelled. Chief Minister and his son Akhilesh Yadav cancelled his Berlin trip and went to Saifai instead.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi on Saturday expressed concern over the illness of the Samajwadi Party chief and wished him a speedy recovery.