Madhya Pradesh BJP MLA tests COVID-19 positive hours after RS polls voting

A BJP MLA and his wife tested positive for Covid-19 causing a flutter in the BJP state unit and Congress both and also among the assembly staff as the MLA had attended the BJP legislature party meetings on Wednesday and Thursday and cast his vote during the Rajya Sabha polls held at the assembly premises on Friday.

Bhopal: A senior BJP MLA in Madhya Pradesh tested COVID-19 positive, hours after casting vote for the Rajya Sabha polls on Friday in the state and attended party meetings, an official said on Saturday.

The legislator's wife has also tested positive for the infection, he said.

The couple's test reports came on Friday night and the news of the MLA's infection triggered panic among other MLAs with some of them reaching hospitals to get themselves tested.

"The MLA and his wife were found infected with COVID-19 in the tests conducted by a private laboratory. We are examining their condition and making a decision whether they need to be hospitalised or home quarantined," a health department official said.

The MLA's contact tracing has been initiated, he said, adding that further tests are also being conducted.

He is the second legislator in Madhya Pradesh to have contracted coronavirus infection, after a Congress MLA who had voted for the Rajya Sabha polls, after reaching the state assembly complex wearing a PPE suit.

A member of the BJP MLA's family said that the medical team was called on Friday afternoon for the COVID-19 test after the legislator's wife complained of uneasiness.

"The MLA and his wife gave the samples to the medical team for the COVID-19 tests on Friday afternoon and they were
told at night that both of them have tested positive for the infection," he said.

After the news of BJP MLA testing positive spread, a senior BJP MLA from Mandsaur, Yashpal Singh Sisodiya, reached government-run J P Hospital here along with two other party MLAs.

Talking to reporters, Sisodiya said, "I came here along with two other MLAs from our division-Dilip Makwana (Ratlam Rural) and Devilal Dhakad (Garoth)- after we came to know through media and social media that one of the MLAs from our division has tested positive for COVID-19."

"We don't have any symptoms, but came to test for COVID-19 as a precautionary measure," he said.

Dhakad said that he came for testing as he had dined with the MLA two days back.

Madhya Pradesh State Assembly's Principal Secretary A P Singh said that all the precautionary measures were taken during the Rajya Sabha polling.

"All employees were in safety gears during the Rajya Sabha election process. The assembly campus was being sanitised every 15-20 minutes during the polling process...We are now going through the CCTV footage to trace those who had come in his contact," he said.

Congress MLA and former minister P C Sharma said that those who came in contact with the BJP legislator should be
traced and quarantined.

"The employees and MLAs who came in contact with him during the voting process should be tested," Sharma said.

PTI