Mahesh Landge: A video from Sunday was widely shared on social media.

Mumbai:

A BJP leader in Maharashtra has been accused of defying Covid restrictions as his family gathered for a celebration ahead of his daughter’s wedding. 

A case has been filed against BJP MLA Mahesh Landge from Pimpri-Chinchwad and 60 others for violating the rules, police said.

A video of the 45-year-old leader with his family and friends surfaced online that shows them dancing at a pre-wedding event.

The clip is from Sunday evening and over 60 people, including Mr Landge, can be seen in the video celebrating.

Only 25 people are allowed to gather for weddings in Maharashtra, the state with the highest overall Covid caseload in the country.

Social distancing norms were violated, people were not wearing masks and the event was held without taking prior permission from the district administration, officials said. Pimpri-Chinchwad is about 130 km from state capital Mumbai.

On Monday, the state, which has logged 57.4 lakh Covid cases thus far, reported the lowest daily rise in three months with 15,077 fresh infections.

Earlier this week, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had stressed that it’s too soon to let the guards down as he expressed concern about possibility of a third wave. Mumbai is looking at easing restrictions in a phased manner.

India has been battling against a deadly second wave of coronavirus, which many experts blame on the oversight of government-mandated norms such as wearing masks, social distancing and use of sanitisers and disinfectants. Distressing visuals captured the plight of thousands of people as the surge in the cases burdened healthcare system in the last few weeks. 

Many states had brought back the restrictions on movement to check the spread of Covid. Enforcing rules has been a key challenge for officials across the country.