The head of the Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust or the Ram Temple trust in Ayodhya, who shared stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several other VIPs during the groundbreaking ceremony for a Ram Temple last week, has tested positive for coronavirus.
Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, 82, was among the five people on the stage at the grand ceremony at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh on August 5.
The others on the stage were Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Governor Anandiben Patel and Mohan Bhagwat, chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the BJP’s ideological mentor.
Nritya Gopal Das is currently in Mathura. “We were informed that Maharaj-ji has some fever, so we sent a team of doctors and they investigated and gave medicines . The fever is normal. He has mild breathlessness and we checked his oxygen level. It is saturated. There is nothing serious. We checked for coronavirus, did antigen test and there is positivity,” Sarvagya Ram Mishra, District Magistrate of Mathura, told reporters.
“The Chief Minister has directed that Maharaj-ji be shifted to the Medanta Hospital and we are getting that done as soon as possible. Maharaj-ji is stable,” he said.
Nritya Gopal Das has also been heading the Ram Janambhoomi Nyas since 2003. It is an Ayodhya-based trust run by members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) for the construction of the Ram Temple.