Haryana Transport Minister Mool Chand Sharma tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday, a day before the Assembly's monsoon session begins

Chandigarh: Haryana Transport Minister Mool Chand Sharma tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday, a day before the Assembly's monsoon session begins here.

On Monday, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Speaker Gian Chand Gupta were also found infected with the virus. Officials said the chief minister, admitted to Gurgaon's Medanta hospital, is in a stable condition.

Mool Chand Sharma The speaker had mandated a coronavirus test for all MLAs, Assembly staffers and officials ahead of the session beginning August 26.

Sharma, a BJP MLA from Ballabgarh in Faridabad district, said he was asymptomatic and appealed to all those who had come in contact with him to get themselves tested.

Khattar's test report came on Monday, six days after he had attended a meeting with Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, who was later found Covid positive.

Manohar Lal Khattar

With the speaker too positive for the disease, Deputy Speaker Ranbir Gangwa will be presiding over the House proceedings.

The speaker had made it mandatory for anyone entering the Assembly complex for the monsoon session to show a Covid-19 negative certificate, which should not be older than three days. This was done on Health Minister Anil Vij's suggestion. The seating arrangement in the House has also been changed to ensure social distancing, officials said.