Two Karnataka BJP legislators test Corona positive
Bengaluru:Karnataka’s two ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators N. Ravikumar and Raghupathi Bhat tested positive for coronavirus and are in private hospitals in Bengaluru and Manipal in Udupi district for treatment, an official said on Sunday.
“Our member of legislative council (MLC) Kumar tested positive for the virus and has been admitted in Manipal Hospital in Bengaluru East for treatment though asymptomatic,” the party official told IANS here.
Kumar, 53, is also the party’s state unit general secretary. He was elected to the upper house unopposed in June 2018.
“Bhat has been admitted to Kasturba Medical College at Manipal for treatment after he tested Covid positive earlier in the day though he is asymptomatic,a said the official.
Bhat, 49, is a legislator from the Udupi assembly segment in the southern state’s coastal district, about 400km west of Bengaluru.
In a related development, former Congress minister Kagodu Thimmappa also tested positive for the virus and has been admitted to a state-run hospital for treatment at Shivamogga in Malnad region.
“Thimmappa, 92, is in the government hospital at Shivamogga after he tested Covid positive earlier in the day,” party spokesman Ravi Gowda told IANS here.
Shivamogga is about 300km northwest of Bengaluru in the state’s central region.
Former president of the ruling party’s state unit Basavaraj Patil Sedam tested positive for corona virus and is in hospital for treatment.
“Sedam has been admitted to the state-run Gulbarga Institute of Medical Sciences at Kalaburagi after he tested positive for the infection on Saturday,” party’s district president Siddaji Patil told IANS on phone.
Kalaburagi is about 630km from Bengaluru in the state’s northern region.
Sedam, 76, was the party’s state president 2000-03. He was also Rajya Sabha member from 2012-18 and state legislative council member from 1990-96.
State education minister S. Suresh Kumar, who tested Covid positive on October 5, shifted to a private hospital in the city from home isolation for treatment, he said on Sunday.
“I have been at home isolation since last Monday (October 5) on being infected with Covid-19 virus. On a doctor’s advice, I am admitted to a friend’s hospital in the city. I am on a doctor’s watch,” tweeted Kumar in Kannada.
Kumar, 64, is the ruling BJP’s legislator for the fifth term from the Rajajinagar assembly segment in the city’s northwest suburb.
“No one needs to worry. By all means, my health is improving,” added Kumar.
Karnataka Congress Lok Sabha member D.K. Suresh on October 6 tested positive for the virus and is in isolation as he is asymptomatic.
Suresh, 53, is the only opposition Congress member who won from the Bangalore Rural parliamentary constituency in the May 2019 general elections and retained it, while the party’s other candidates lost in the 20 Lok Sabha seats they contested from the southern state.
Suresh is the younger brother of the party’s state unit president D.K. Shivakumar, who is a legislator from the Kanakapura assembly segment in Ramanagara district.
Among the Covid-hit ministers were chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa, deputy chief ministers Govid Karjol and C.N. Ashwath Narayan, J.C. Madhuswamy, Basavaraj Bommai, K. Gopalaiah, Byrathi Basavaraj, Prabhu Chavan, Shivaram Hebbar, K.S. Eshwarappa and B. Sriramulu.
According to state Assembly Speaker Vishwanath Hegde Kageri, about 70 legislators of the BJP, opposition Congress and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) contracted the virus ahead of the 6-day monsoon session in September.
Among the opposition Congress members were its leader Siddaramaiah, its state unit president D. K. Shivakumar and lawmakers H.K. Patil and Dinesh Gundu Rao.
