When Shivraj Chouhan tested positive, executives in contact with him were asked to quarantine themselves.
Bhopal:
Days after Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan tested positive for coronavirus, two other ministers in his cabinet contracted the disease. While Minister of Water Resources Tulsi Silawat announced the result of his test on Twitter on Tuesday evening, Minister of State for Backward Classes and Minority Welfare Ramkhelavan Patel is the latest addition to the list of ministers from Madhya Pradesh who tested positive for the virus.
BJP secretary general (organization) Suhas Bhagat and state president VD Sharma have also tested positive.
Mr Bhagat and Mr Sharma had traveled to Lucknow with Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and Minister Arvind Singh Bhadoria – both later tested positive.
With that, the four BJP leaders who flew to Lucknow to attend Governor Lalji Tandon’s final rites last week turned positive for COVID-19.
Cooperative Minister Arvind Bhadoria had held public meetings in Bhind district, where a number of segments of the assembly are to hold by-elections, before the results of his coronavirus tests were released.
Tulsi Silawat, who was among 22 congressmen whose resignation triggered the fall of Kamal Nath’s government in March, also held public meetings due to by-elections in his constituency, Sanwer.
When Shivraj Chouhan tested positive on July 25, leaders who were in close contact with him were asked to quarantine themselves.
Mr. Silavat, however, is said to have met around 3,500 people who attended a meeting he called at the BJP office in Indore. He also reportedly met many supporters and organized rallies.
The opposition Congress attacked the BJP for flouting guidelines to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
“The Prime Minister had called for social distancing, but BJP leaders in Madhya Pradesh held virtual rallies. The cabinet kept moving, the crown continued to spread,” the former minister said Jeetu Patwari.
Madhya Pradesh Congress has also accused state Home Secretary Narottam Mishra of defying social distancing rules and meeting people during the pandemic and announced a reward of Rs 11,000 for any BJP leader. who can get the minister to follow the coronavirus guidelines.
Meanwhile, nine lawmakers, including seven BJP MPs and two Congress MPs, have so far tested positive for COVID-19 in Madhya Pradesh. Madhya Pradesh has reported around 30,000 positive COVID cases and 830 deaths to date, of which around 6,000 cases and 160 deaths have been reported in the state capital, Bhopal.
