Uma Bharti to skip Ayodhya event over COVID-19 concerns

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Uma Bharti, who has been very active in the Ram temple movement, tweeted on Monday that she would not attend the groundbreaking event on Wednesday in Ayodhya as a precaution against the coronavirus. This comes a day after Home Minister Amit Shah tested positive for the virus.

Earlier a priest and 14 policemen on duty at Ayodhya’s Ram Janamabhoomi complex had tested positive for coronavirus that has infected more than 1.75 million people and claimed 37, 364 lives in India till date.

In a series of tweets Bharti wrote, “When I heard about Amit Shah and other BJP leaders testing positive I was worried about those attending the Ayodhya event, especially PM Modi,”

The 61-year-old BJP leader said she would travel from Bhopal to Uttar Pradesh by train and may be infected on the way and had decided to skip the rituals at Ayodhya to protect Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ‘thousands’ of others at the site of the temple.

“I will leave Bhopal this evening and until I reach Ayodhya tomorrow evening, I may be exposed to the infection. So, I will stay away from the place where PM Modi and others will be present. I will go only after everyone has left the spot,” tweeted the former union minister.