News agency PTI reported on Thursday that BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra had been admitted to a hospital in Gurgaon after he showed symptoms of COVID-19. Patra was reportedly admitted to the Medanta Hospital.
In recent years, Sambit Patra has become visible as one of the BJP's most outspoken spokespersons on TV news debates, where he defends both policies of the Narendra Modi government and also the BJP's ideology. Patra also has an active social media presence, particularly on Twitter, where he has 4.4 lakh followers. Fluent in both English and Hindi, Patra is by training a surgeon. Patra had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Parliamentary election from Puri, from where he lost to a BJD candidate.
If confirmed to have COVID-19, Patra would be the second major spokesperson of a national party to get infected by the virus. Last week, Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha said he had tested positive for COVID-19 and was self-quarantining. Ironically, both Patra and Jha have engaged in verbal duels on TV news debates
Earlier this week, former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan, who is also a minister of the Congress in the Uddhav Thackeray government, tested positive for COVID-19.
