BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Gasti suffering from COVID-19, critically ill, clarifies Manipal Hospital

Amid rumours of BJP MP’s Ashok Gasti’s demise, the Bengaluru hospital where he is being treated has clarified that Rajya Sabha legislator is in critical condition and suffering from COVID-19, according to several media reports. “He is crucially ill, but all efforts are being made,” medical director of Manipal Hospital Dr Sudarshan Ballal told NDTV. The hospital has said the MP was admitted with severe COVID-19 pneumonia and is critical with multi-organ failure. He is on life support in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), as per the report. Gasti was admitted to a private Bengaluru hospital on 2 September after testing positive for coronavirus, as per India Today. A first-time Member of Parliament, Gasti was elected to Rajya Sabha in June this year. The BJP had ignored the advice of its Karnataka unit, which had recommended the names of Prabhakar Kore, Ramesh Katti and Prakash Shetty, and instead fielded Gasti and Eranna Kadadi for the Rajya Sabha elections, as per PTI. Gasti was previously a booth worker, as per NDTV. A resident of Raichur, Gasti, is a lawyer by profession and former general secretary of the BJP’s OBC Cell. He is also the former chairperson of the Backward Class Development Corporation, PTI said. With inputs from PTI