Nikhil Kumaraswamy tests positive for COVID-19
Bengaluru, Apr 17: Former Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and his son Nikhil Kumaraswamy on Saturday said they have tested positive for COVID-19.
Kumaraswamy could not get a bed in a hospital of his choice where he wished to get himself admitted for treatment, reportedly due to non-availability.
"I request everyone who came in close contact with me over the last few days to isolate themselves and get tested," the 61-year-old JD(S) leader tweeted.
For the last few days, Kumaraswamy had been campaigning for the party candidate in Basavakalyan, where bypoll was held today.
He had got himself inoculated with the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on March 23.
Kumaraswamy's wife and Ramanagara MLA Anita Kumaraswamy is under home quarantine on the advice of the Doctors.
His son Nikhil Kumaraswamy who is a Kannada actor and JD (S) youth wing President said in a tweet he too has tested positive and is under medication on the advice of the doctors.
Meanwhile, a statement by Kumaraswamy's media coordinator claimed that the former CM did not get a bed at the city's Manipal Hospital, as per desire.
Also, Health Minister K Sudhakar's intervention to get him bed at the hospital did not bear fruit, it said adding that however, Kumaraswamy managed to find a bed at another private hospital.
Noting that Kumaraswamy had experienced fatigue on Friday evening while he was campaigning in Basavakalyan, the media coordinator's statement attributing to JD(S) MLC H M Ramesh Gowda, said he returned to Bengaluru and retreated to a hotel, instead of going home.
"On contacting doctors this morning and undergoing a test, he was confirmed COVID positive.
Though he wanted to rest at his farmhouse and undergo treatment there, doctors did not agree to it. They asked him not to risk it and that he should get admitted immediately," it said.
The statement said Kumaraswamy will appear before a court in connection with a case via video conference today and after that he will get admitted at another hospital, where he has got the bed.
A source at the Manipal Hospital not wanting to comment on claims made by Kumaraswamy's media coordinator, said there was no bed available at the hospital on the city's Old Airport road.
Kumaraswamy's father and Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda was admitted to the Manipal Hospital on March 31 for COVID treatment and was discharged after recovery on April 5.
Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa is also undergoing treatment at the Manipal Hospital for COVID-19, after he was tested positive on Friday, for the second time in eight months.
Several political leaders belonging to various parties like Yediyurappa, Kumaraswamy, Congress MLAs Eshwar Khandre, Laxmi Hebbalkar, BJP's Maski candidate Pratapagouda Patil among others have contracted the virus during the campaign for bypoll to one lok sabha and two assembly segments in Karnataka.
CM Yediyurappa, Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah, state Congress chief D K Shivakumar among other leaders have wished Kumaraswamy a speedy recovery.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
