Priyanka cancels poll campaign plan as husband Vadra tests COVID positive

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has cancelled her election programmes after being exposed to the coronavirus. The Congress leader, who was scheduled to canvas in Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala this week, will instead self-isolate after her husband, Robert Vadra, tested positive for the virus.

In a video message posted on her official Twitter handle, Gandhi apologised for the cancellation of her programmes and wished luck to all the candidates that she was supposed to campaign for.

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“Although I tested negative yesterday, doctors have advised that I self-isolate for a few days. Unfortunately, I have to cancel the programmes scheduled for me for the Assam campaign today and for Tamil Nadu tomorrow and Kerala day-after-tomorrow,” she said.

Robert Vadra had earlier said that he recently came into contact with a COVID-19 patient and had himself tested positive. Although asymptomatic, he and his wife had decided to go into self-isolation, Vadra had said.

Gandhi has been actively campaigning in the poll-bound states of Assam and Kerala. She has done two tours of Assam till now and her third visit was scheduled for Friday.

She was also slated to visit Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu’s Kanchipuram district on Saturday, where her father and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in 1991. Following the visit, she was supposed to start her campaign in Tamil Nadu, where the Congress is contesting on 25 assembly seats in alliance with the DMK.

The Congress general secretary’s decision to self-isolate comes as India witnesses a massive spike in the daily number of coronavirus cases, led by a surge in states such as Maharashtra, Punjab and Gujarat.

On Friday, India reported 81,466 new coronavirus cases, taking the tally in the country to 1,23,03,131. The death toll increased by 469 to 1,63,396.