With the 21-day lockdown in force, Karnataka BJP MLA from Turuvekere constituency, M Jayaram, was on Friday seen celebrating his birthday with several villagers in Gubbi taluk in Tumkur. He also served biryani to people who attended the birthday bash.
A sizable number of people were seen gathering in Gubbi taluk to celebrate the BJP legislator's birthday. Jayaram represents the Turuvekere Assembly constituency in Tumakuru district, a district that has numerous Covid 19 cases and one positive coronavirus patient died last week. In the pictures, none of the MLA's supporters wore masks. Many of them jostled for feeding the lawmaker a piece of cake him and pose for selfies with him.
After pictures of the birthday bash went viral on social media, netizens took to Twitter and slammed the BJP legislator.
Here's what Twitterati had to say:
"Jayaram's family members and relatives celebrated his birthday in a house compound at Ankalakuppe village in Gubbi taluk where hundreds of his supporters also gathered to felicitate him," Gubbi police inspector P.M. Nagaraj told IANS over phone.
Denying that the legislator violated the lockdown, Nagaraj said the birthday function was held in a compound at Ankalakuppe whereas free food was served in the temple vicinity at Manikuppa, which is an adjacent village.
Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called for a three-week lockdown, urging people to practice social distancing to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The total number of COVID-19 cases in the country has mounted to 6,761 of which 6039 are active cases, 516 have been cured/discharged/migrated, and 206 deaths have been reported.
