25 MPs across both Houses test positive for Covid-19 on Day 1 of Monsoon session
12 BJP MPs, 2 from YSR Congress and one each from Shiv Sena, DMK and RLP tested positive. In Rajya Sabha, two MPs each from BJP and Congress and one each from AIADMK, TRS, AAP and Trinamool Congress tested positive.
by Nidhi Sharma
As many as 17 Lok Sabha MPs and eight Rajya Sabha MPs tested positive for the Coronavirus before they could get a go-ahead to attend the Monsoon Session of Parliament which began on Monday.
Ruling party BJP had the most number of Covid positive members at 14 – 12 in Lok Sabha and two in Rajya Sabha. The tests were conducted over Sunday and Monday.
As per the protocol set by the ministry of health and family welfare, MPs had to get themselves tested 48 to 72 hours before the session. A negative report was made mandatory for the member to attend Parliament.
Lok Sabha sources said 12 BJP MPs, 2 from YSR Congress and one each from Shiv Sena, DMK and RLP tested positive. In Rajya Sabha, two MPs each from BJP and Congress and one each from AIADMK, TRS, AAP and Trinamool Congress tested positive.
After they tested positive, some of the MPs, including BJP’s Meenakshi Lekhi and Sukanta Majumdar, took to social media to share their health status. "I am currently in good health & spirits. I request everyone who has been recently in contact with me to get tested. Together We will fight & defeat Corona," Lekhi posted to Twitter.
There was also some confusion with BJP’s Nagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal tweeting that tests at two different locations threw up totally different results for him. While he tested positive in the test at the Parliament Complex, he tested negative soon after in the the test done at the SMS Hospital Jaipur.
“Which report should be believed?” Beniwal asked on Twitter, attaching screenshots of both the results.