Nana Patole asked everyone, who came in contact with him recently, to get tested for coronavirus (File)
Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Nana Patole on Friday said he has tested positive for coronavirus, two days before the monsoon session of the state legislature is scheduled to begin in Mumbai.
Nana Patole said that he had developed symptoms while touring his constituency in Vidarbha region to monitor the flood relief work.
"I got myself tested and the results were positive," Mr Patole tweeted. He asked those who came in his contact recently to get themselves tested.
NCP MLA Narhari Zhirwal, who is the Assembly Deputy Speaker, will chair the proceedings in Mr Patole's absence, a Vidhan Bhawan official said.
For the two-day session, officials have put in place a slew of measures to ensure that Assembly members do not contract the infection and House proceedings go on without any hindrance.
Compulsory antigen tests for legislators, distribution of COVID kits and a new seating arrangement to ensure physical distancing among members are some of the measures undertaken for the session beginning on September 7, the official said.
The session was postponed twice - it was originally scheduled from June 22 and was later shifted to the last week of August.
The budget session in March was curtailed by a week after the first coronavirus case in Maharashtra was detected.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)