BJP MP Varun Gandhi said that he has tested positive for COVID-19 after being in his Lok Sabha constituency Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh.

The BJP leader also requested the Election Commission to extend precautionary doses to candidates and political workers in view of the upcoming polls in five states.

Gandhi said that he has fairly strong symptoms.

“After being in Pilibhit for 3 days, I have tested positive for COVID with fairly strong symptoms. We are now in the middle of a third wave and an election campaign. The Election Commission should extend precautionary doses to candidates and political workers as well,” he wrote on Twitter.

The Election Commission on Saturday declared the poll schedule for Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa.

Uttar Pradesh, the state with the highest Assembly seats,  will go to polls in seven phases on February 10, February 14, February 20, February 23, February 27, March 3 and March 7. Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa will hold polls in single phase from February 14 while elections in Manipur will be held in two phases – February 27 and March 3.

Counting of votes in Uttar Pradesh, along with Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur, will take place on March 10.

Last month, the BJP MP had criticised the imposition of night curfew in several states, including Uttar Pradesh and said it should be decided if our priority is to contain the disease or to indulge in a show of strength during elections.

“Imposing curfew in night and then assembling lakhs of people for rallies in the day defies the common man’s wisdom. Keeping in mind Uttar Pradesh’s limited health infrastructure, it has to be decided honestly if our priority is to contain the dangerous Omicron variant of coronavirus or to indulge in a show of power during polls,” he wrote on Twitter in Hindi.