No Kanika contacts found positive so far
NEW DELHI/LUCKNOW: Bharatiya Janata Party MP Dushyant Singh and his mother, former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje, took to the Twitter on Saturday to announce that they have tested negative for Covid-19 on Saturday, providing a sense of relief to many lawmakers and Parliament officials. Both leaders attended a party in Lucknow on March 15, where Bollywood singer Kanika Kapoor was present. Kapoor, who recently returned from London, didn’t practice self-isolation and later tested positive for the virus.
NEW DELHI/LUCKNOW: Bharatiya Janata Party MP Dushyant Singh and his mother, former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje, took to the Twitter on Saturday to announce that they have tested negative for Covid-19 on Saturday, providing a sense of relief to many lawmakers and Parliament officials.
Both leaders attended a party in Lucknow on March 15, where Bollywood singer Kanika Kapoor was present. Kapoor, who returned from London on March 9, didn’t practice self-isolation or a self-quarantine, and chose to work in Mumbai and attend social events in Lucknow, where her parents are based. She tested positive for Covid-19 on March 20. A FIR was subsequently filed against her under IPC’s sections 188, 269 and 270 which pertain to disobeying public orders, and negligence.
“My COVID report has turned out to be negative. But as a matter of precaution, I will remain in isolation and follow the health guidelines”, tweeted Singh. Raje too said the same. The prospect that Singh could have been infected sent Delhi into a tizzy. He had attended parliament and a breakfast at Rashtrapati Bhavan with the President.
President Ram Nath Kovind cancelled all his engagements indefinitely after it came to light .
Like Singh and Raje, though, other political figures who have restricted their movements or public engagements are unlikely to change their schedule. Rashtrapati Bhavan officials said that President Ram Kath Kovind will continue to take a break from public engagements for a few more days. TMC leader Derek O’Brien who announced he was in self-quarantine, will remain in isolation.
O’Brien was seated next to Singh for about two hours in a meeting of the parliamentary committee.
The railway ministry, whose officials also participated in the panel’s meeting said: “Our officials were sitting far away from the members and at no point time came close to the MP. Any action by us will be based on the medical advice in this regard available for the second level contact.”
The government has listed the Finance Bill for passage on Monday in the Lok Sabha. Some leaders have started speculating that after the passage of the finance bill, the only remaining part of the general budget, the budget session may be curtailed. But officials close to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said there is no such plan yet.
Meanwhile, officials in Lucknow said Kapoor was doing well at a quarantine facility.
And Uttar Pradesh health minister Jai Pratap Singh, who attended the same party, also tested negative.
On Saturday, BJP’s Gorakhpur MP Ravi Kishan and Bansgaon MP Kamlesh Paswan who came in contact with Dushyant Singh during the breakfast hosted by Kovind, also went into self-isolation.
There were over two dozen MPs from Rajasthan and UP at the breakfast gathering.
The Rashtrapati Bhavan secretariat consulted union health ministry officials and will wait for complete medical guidance on the steps to be taken by all officials who attended the programme.
In Parliament, AAP MP Sanjay Singh (who said he had been in close touch with O’Brien), Varun Gandhi, Anupriya Patel and Satyapal Singh decided to go into selfquarantine.
Parliament officials are examining CCTV footage to see which other MPs and officials may have come in contact with Singh.
Raje, Singh, and Jai Pratap Singh were among 30 “contacts” of Kapoor who all tested negative on Saturday.
On Saturday, Kapoor told her parents over phone that she was fine but “stressed out by the blame being directed at her” according to her father Rajiv Kapoor. The general opinion on Friday and Saturday was that Kapoor had been extremely careless and irresponsible.