17 MPs Test Positive for COVID-19 as Monsoon Session Gets Underway

Among the 17 MPs, 12 are from the BJP, two from YSR Congress Party, and one each from Shiv Sena, DMK and RLP.

BJP’s Meenakshi Lekhi and Anant Kumar Hegde. 

(Photo: PTI/Altered by The Quint)

At least 17 Members of Parliament, including Meenakshi Lekhi, Anant Kumar Hegde and Parvesh Sahib Singh, have tested positive for COVID-19, as the Monsoon Session began on Monday, 14 September.

Among the 17 MPs who have contracted the infection, 12 are from the BJP, two from YSR Congress Party, and one each from Shiv Sena, DMK and RLP.

BJP MP from New Delhi, Meenakshi Lekhi, took to Twitter to confirm that she had tested positive for coronavirus. "I am currently in good health and spirits. I request everyone who has been recently in contact with me to get tested," she said.

Catch all the updates on the Monsoon session here.

The tests had been conducted before the Monsoon session began on Monday at the Parliament House complex, reports said.

The Monsoon session began on Monday with a number of measures in place against COVID-19. This is the first session of the Parliament since the Budget session was adjourned in March at the beginning of the outbreak in India.

Many Union ministers, including Home Minister Amit Shah, have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last couple of months.

India coronavirus tally currently stands at more than 47 lakh, as the country continues to record more than 90,000 cases daily. The death toll stands at 78,586.