Sira Congress candidate T B Jayachandra tests positive for COVID-19 ahead of bypoll results

Former Minister and Congress candidate for Sira bypolls T B Jayachandra on Monday said he has tested positive for COVID-19 and has been hospitalised. The results for Sira in Tumakuru district, along with Rajarajeshwari Nagar in the city, will be declared on Tuesday.

"My wife was tested COVID positive, so I also underwent a test and the report has confirmed that I'm too positive. So it will be difficult for me to attend the counting tomorrow," Jayachandra said in a video message on his twitter handle.

He also requested his supporters to attend the counting process in his absence and expressed confidence about victory. Jayachandra has been admitted to a private hospital in the city. The byelection had been necessitated in Sira following the death of JD(S) legislator B Sathyanarayana in August.

Jayachandra (71) was pitted against BJP's Dr C M Rajesh Gowda, a radiologist and the son of former Congress MP C P Mudalagiriyappa, and JD(S)' Ammajamma, who is the wife of late MLA Sathyanarayana in the voting that took place on November 3. Jayachandra was minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs and Minor Irrigation in the previous Siddaramaiah led Congress government and had lost from Sira in the 2018 Assembly election against Sathyanarayana.