Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad tests positive, admitted to Breach Candy hospital

Gaikwad is the 13th minister in the Uddhav Thackeray-led government to catch the infection. Three days ago, Minister of State (School Education) Bacchu Kadu had also tested positive for the virus.

Gaikwad was on a four-day official trip to Marathwada last week. She is the Guardian Minister of Hingoli district.

Earlier, Maharashtra’s Energy Minister Nitin Raut and Rural Development Minister Hasan Mushrif had tested positive. In the recent past, ministers Jitendra Awhad (Housing), Ashok Chavan (Public Works), Dhananjay Munde (Social Justice), Sunil Kedar (Animal Husbandry), Balasaheb Patil (Cooperation), Aslam Shaikh (Ports, Textile), Abdul Sattar (MoS, Rural Development), Sanjay Bansode (MoS, Environment) and Vishwajeet Kadam (MoS, Cooperation) had tested positive for the infection.