Coronavirus Karnataka: The legislator cut a large chocolate cake amid guests, who were seen in photographs and video, tightly packed with little regard for the deadly pandemic.

SouthWritten by Nehal KidwaiUpdated: April 11, 2020 11:02 am IST

Karntaka Lockdown: M Jayaram cut his birthday cake wearing white gloves.31Bengaluru: 

A Karnataka BJP MLA was seen celebrating his birthday on Friday with hundreds of supporters in brazen defiance of the ongoing nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus.

M Jayaram, the legislator from Turuvekere in Karnataka’s Tumakuru district, cut a large chocolate cake wearing white gloves and passed it around to people including children.

The guests, who were seen in photographs and video tightly packed with little regard for the deadly pandemic, were served biryani in Gubbi town, around 90 km from Bengaluru.

Mr Jayaram is not the first politician in the state seen flouting the rules with impunity amid the ongoing crisis that has claimed over 200 lives and affected 6,000 across the country.

Last month, days after banning all social gatherings including weddings, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa attended the marriage ceremony of a BJP leader at Belgavi on March 15.

The very next day, hundreds of Congress workers defied the social distancing guidelines to honour the newly-appointed state party president D K Shivakumar.