Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar tests positive for coronavirus

Amid the ongoing political crisis in Maharashtra, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Monday said he has tested positive for coronavirus.

I did my test for coronavirus which has come out positive. I am doing good and have been consulting doctors. With your blessings, I will soon defeat coronavirus and resume in your service. Whosoever has come in my contact should get tested immediately, Pawar, who also holds the finance portfolio, tweeted.

The senior NCP leader (62), whose party is a key constituent of the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, has tested positive for the infection for the second time - the first time being in October 2020. Last week, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari had also tested positive for coronavirus. 

Koshyari was admitted to hospital and discharged on Sunday. The two-and-a-half-year old MVA government, which also includes the Congress as a partner, plunged into crisis a week ago after a section of Shiv Sena MLAs, led by cabinet minister Eknath Shinde, raised a banner of revolt against the party leadership.