BJP leader who threatened Mamata with 'Covid hug' tests positive

Kolkata: BJP leader Anupam Hazra, who had threatened to hug Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee if he got infected with COVID-19, has tested positive for the disease, health officials said.

Hazra, who has recently been appointed as a national secretary of the saffron party, was admitted to a private hospital in Kolkata on Friday, they said.

He had complained of uneasiness and his samples were tested for Coronavirus, the report of which returned as positive on Thursday night, the officials said.

After his controversial statement, the Trinamool Congress had lodged a police complaint against Hazra for maligning a public figure, who is a woman, thus violating the Constitution.

Hazra, a former TMC MP who joined the BJP last year, said earlier this week that the way the bodies of COVID-19 patients were being cremated in the state was pathetic.

A police complaint was filed by the Trinamool Congress in Siliguri for the comments Hazra made at a party programme in Baruipur in South 24-Parganas on Sunday evening.

"I have decided that if I get infected with the Coronavirus, then I will go and hug Mamata Banerjee," he had said.