President Ram Nath Kovind to test for Coronavirus

The decision to conduct Coronavirus test on Ram Nath Kovind comes in the wake of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Dushyant Singh’s participation in an event where Kanika Kapoor, who is affected by COVID-19, was present on Sunday and the MP’s subsequent meeting with the President. This comes as a big shock for the nation which is already reeling under the Coronavirus outbreak, President Ram Nath Kovind will undergo Covid-19 test on Saturday, said sources from Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Sources said the President would follow all the directives of the government. The President has postponed all his programmes till further orders, the sources added.

It all started after famous Bollywood singer Kanika Kapoor, after returning from United Kingdom, thrown the political elites of the country into quarantine after she attended multiple bashes in Lucknow. The epicentre of her reckless act turn out to be the capital of Uttar Pradesh — India’s most populous state and New Delhi — the national capital itself.

After Kanika was tested Coronavirus positive on Friday, former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and her son Dushyant Singh have gone into self-isolation after coming in contact with her, but the news has also caused concern among 96 MPs.

These 96 MPs, from Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, were present at a breakfast meet at Rashtrapati Bhavan two days ago which Dushyant Singh also attended. Now, who ever came into contact with Dushyant Singh has started going into self-isolation. Mirzapur MP Anupriya Patel was the first to do this.

On March 18, President Ram Nath Kovind invited 96 MPs from Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to breakfast. Dushyant Singh, an MP from Jhalawar-Baran, also came to the breakfast and interacted with the other MPs. Just two days before this, on March 16, Dushyant Singh had returned from Lucknow after attending Kanika Kapoor’s party.

Union Minister Rajnath Singh, General V.K. Singh, Gajendra Shekhawat, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Kailash Chaudhary, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Vijay Goyal, Om Mathur, Ravikishan, Hema Malini, Rita Bahuguna Joshi and Sakshi Maharaj had attended the breakfast meet among others.

Things turned ugly after former BSP MP Akbar Ahmed Dumpy threw a birthday party on March 14 which was attended by many socialites and royals. In the list,were Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh, Congress leader Jitin Prasada, Vasundhara Raje and her MP son Dushyant Singh among others. The event was attended was Kanika Kapoor as well.

The singer stayed at Shalimar Gallante in Mahanagar in Lucknow and now another person from the same building has been found positive, said sources. The singer had also been interacting with her friends in the high-rise building where her parents stay in Mahanagar area. She also paid a visit to her uncle’s family in Kanpur.

In the action following, Uttar Pradesh’s Yogi Adityanath government has directed Lucknow District Magistrate Abhishek Prakash to submit a report within 24 hours on the parties attended by Bollywood singer in the state capital.

Meanwhile, Adityanath has ordered sanitisation of Lucknow, Noida and Kanpur, places Kanika Kapoor and those who met her visited. UP Health minister, who has now self-quarantined himself, had visited Noida recently.

While Dushyant Singh’s test report has come negative, according to BJP sources, the government is wary about the health hazard, nevertheless. It all started with one non disclosure by the singer which has now put two biggest cities of India on edge.