Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani tested positive for COVID-19 today (February 15) a day after reports emerged that he fainted during an election rally. The chief minister was admitted to a hospital in Ahmedabad after he fainted while campaigning for the upcoming civic polls in the state.
A hospital bulletin giving an update on the chief minister's health said that certain health tests were conducted post his admission in the hospital. The report of the RTPCR test for novel coronavirus received in the morning today showed that the chief minister had tested positive for COVID-19. He is undergoing treatment for the same now.
The 64-year-old Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader was kept under observation for 24 hours and it was advised that he should take rest. While speaking to the reporters earlier today, Dr RK Patel from the UN Mehta Hospital, said, "Rupaniji fainted due to tiredness and dehydration. We have done a thorough checkup and all his tests are normal."
CM Rupani could be seen losing consciousness towards the end of his speech in the video shared on his official Twitter handle. He was addressing his third rally of the day in the Nizampura area of Vadodara.
An earlier statement of Gujarat's BJP media convener said that people should not pay heed to rumours about Rupani's health.
"CM's health is good now. It was low blood pressure issue, possibly due to tiredness and stress linked to hectic election-related programmes. After treatment given by doctor, his health is fine now," said the statement.
After getting to know of the incident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had reached out to inquire about Rupani's health on the phone and asked him to get a thorough health checkup and to take rest.
The political parties in the state are in the campaign mode for the elections to six municipal corporations (including Vadodara), which are going to be held on February 21. Elections in other municipalities, talukas, and district panchayats will take place on February 28.
