On Monday, 19th December 2022, Himachal Pradesh’s chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu tested positive for coronavirus. A state government official announced this as his meeting with the Prime Minister scheduled on Monday was postponed due to the infection. It is notable that Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had recently participated in the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi.
According to the spokesperson, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu who recently took over as the chief minister of the hill state tested COVID-positive in New Delhi when he was examined as per protocol before meeting the Prime Minister. Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu was asymptomatic and he isolated himself as a part of the cautionary measures.
It is being speculated that it was the Bhaat Jodo Yatra where Sukhu came in contact with a large number of people and that he might have caught the infection in the Yatra led by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya wrote a letter to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, on Tuesday 20th December 2022, asking to follow the COVID-19 guidelines strictly during the party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Sukhu, Pratibha Singh and other Congress leaders from Himachal had participated in the Bharat Jodo Yatra on Friday, 16 December.
While briefing the media about the measures being taken against the coronavirus, union health minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya said, “Himachal Pradesh’s chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu tested COVID positive after he joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra. I have therefore written a letter to the convenor of this Bharat Jodo Yatra Mr Rahul Gandhi. People are criticizing me for writing this letter, but I would like to make it clear that this is a part of my duty to ask responsible leaders in the country to abide by COVID protocols so that the spread can be curbed.”