Pratap Singh Khachariyawas, Ramesh Meena test positive for COVID-19

Jaipur: More and more politicians who are not able to shun public life are finding themselves vulnerable to COVID-19. Joining the growing list of politicians who have tested positive for the virus in Rajasthan are cabinet minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas and MLA Ramesh Meena.

Politicians are attending public meetings. In fact, a day before testing positive, Khachariyawas had attended a protest outside MNIT. Several senior leaders including ex-deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, chief whip Mahesh Joshi, and MLAs including Ameen Kagaji and Ganga Devi had attended the same protest.

Khachariyawas has appealed that those who came in contact with him in the past few days should have themselves tested and go into self-quarantine until test results are received. Earlier, at least 10 employees of chief minister office and residence had tested positive. Chief minister Gehlot has appealed to all MPs and MLAs to have themselves tested. Gehlot wished Khachariyawas speedy recovery on Twitter.

Nagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal, Rajya Sabha MPs Dr Kirori Lal Meena and Rajendra Gehlot, three union cabinet ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Arjunram Meghwal and Kailash Choudhary and several MLAs including Vishvendra Singh, Chandrabhan Singh and Hameer Singh have tested positive in Rajasthan.

Over 10,000 people have tested positive in Jaipur alone. The virus has claimed 273 lives in the city. Some areas including Jhotwara, Vaishali Nagar, Ajmer Road, Sanganer, Sodala, and Mansarovar are reporting the highest number of cases.