India's home affairs minister tests positive for virus sparking concerns for Prime Minister's health
The Indian Minister of Home Affairs, Amit Shah, has tested positive for Covid-19, sparking fears he could have infected Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the pair attended the same cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
Mr Shah is one of the most powerful, yet divisive figures, in Indian politics and he led the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from 2014 until January 2020.
A long-term political ally of Mr Modi, Mr Shah acts as the Prime Minister’s spokesman, campaign strategist, and has been behind a string of recent and controversial Hindu nationalist policies.
In August 2019, the Indian Government revoked the autonomous status that India’s only Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir had enjoyed since the nation’s independence in 1947.
While Mr Shah’s supporters argue it was necessary to bring the conflict-ridden region under greater central control, activists say it is an attempt to change the demographics of the region, with Indians from outside the territory now allowed to settle, buy land and obtain a government job.
The implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act in December 2019, which excluded Muslim refugees from a new law that granted residency to members of other religious persecuted in neighbouring countries, also led to months of violent nationwide protests.
Mr Shah announced that he was Covid-19 positive on Twitter on Sunday night: “After developing the initial symptoms of corona, I got the test done and the results came back positive,” he wrote. “My health is fine but I am being admitted to the hospital on the advice of doctors.
“I request that all of you who have come into contact with me in the last few days, please isolate yourself and get the test done”.
Mr Shah did not reveal any details as to how he may have contracted Covid-19 but he has taken a hands-on approach as India struggles to contain the world’s third-largest and fastest-growing epidemic, with over 1.8 million cases.
He has inspected a number of Covid-19 centres in New Delhi after residents took to social media to complain about the densely-populated city’s public hospitals were turning away Covid-19 patients because they had already reached capacity.
On Wednesday, Mr Shah had attended a cabinet meeting at Mr Modi’s residence, during which a new, contentious national education policy was announced.
Mr Modi is yet to comment on Mr Shah’s diagnosis and it is unclear whether the Prime Minister will be self-isolating for the next fortnight.
This upcoming Wednesday, Mr Modi was set to lay the foundation stone for a new Hindu temple in the city of Ayodhya, which marks the fulfillment of a long-standing election promise.
A mosque had stood at the site since the 16th Century but was razed to the ground during inter-religious riots in 1992.
Mr Modi had vowed to build a temple on the old mosque and a court ruled in his favour, much to the ire of Muslim leaders, after an arduous legal battle last November.
In addition to Mr Shah, the Chief Minister of the southern state of Karnataka, B.S. Yediyurappa also tested positive on Sunday.
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