After babus, it is now the turn for politicians across the State to contract coronavirus. So far, at least 10 MLAs and a dozen other senior politicians ranging from former ministers to district secretaries are under treatment for COVID-19 in various hospitals across the State.
Chennai:
“Think twice before calling on a politician as this is a time to stay away from them as the Netas, who travel mostly without e-passes, are slowly emerging as corona spreaders,” said a senior officer at the Secretariat adding that several other politicians, including Higher Education Minister K P Anbalagan and other MLAs, are either recovering or stable. Former minister B Valarmathi, a prominent women leader in the AIADMK, is the latest to test positive for COVID-19 on Monday. Valarmathi, a strong political face during the days of the late Chief Ministers MGR and Jayalalithaa, is the chairman of the Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services Corporation and also the secretary of the AIADMK literary wing. Valarmathi is the sixth AIADMK leader to be infected by the coronavirus.
Incidentally, most of the infected MLAs belong to AIADMK and DMK. The list includes Higher Education Minister KP Anbalagan, K Palani (Sriperumbudur), Amman K Arjunan (Coimbatore South), N Sathan Prabhakar (Paramakudi), Kumaraguru (Ulundurpet), KS Masthan (Gingee), RT Arasu (Cheyyur), Vasantham K Karthikeyan (Rishivandhiyam), and J Anbazhagan (Tiruvallikeni-Chepauk). Anbazhagan was the first legislator in the country to succumb to the infection last month.
Meanwhile, six ward and area secretaries of DMK and AIADMK have been admitted to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital and Omandurar government hospital. “There are also family members of State ministers and a few more MLAs awaiting COVID-19 test results in the next 48 hours. It is not clear where they catch the virus, but they are spreading it to the party men and vice versa,” the officer admitted.