BENGALURU: BJP Karkala MLA and party chief whip Vasudev Sunil Kumar tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday evening. The Backward Classes leader, who hails from the Ediga commnity, the 47-year-old Sunil Kumar was campaigning extensively in Kerala when he complained of throat pain. He was taken for testing and the result came positive on Friday.
The BJP team members, who came in contact with him, and his personal staff, who were lodged with him for the past few days, have isolated themselves voluntarily. They will not be available for campaigning for the next few days in election-bound Kerala.
None of the top leaders have come in contact with Sunil, BJP sources told The New Indian Express. Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, too is in Kerala and is campaigning in southern parts of the neighbouring state, in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram. Many leaders from Karnataka, including state party president Nalin Kumar Kateel, spokesman and former Member of Legislative Council Ganesh Karnik and others are campaigning in Kerala for the past few days ever since the legislative sessions concluded in Karnataka recently.
BJP MLA Raghupathy Bhat has been campaigning in Kerala’s Kollam district, while other party legislators from the state, Vedavyas Kamat, Bharat Shetty, and Rajesh Naik too, are in Kerala over the two weeks, campaigning extensively.