Former Gujarat minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kanti Gamit was arrested on Wednesday for violating Covid-19 guidelines, a day after a video showing some 6,000 people at an engagement ceremony of his granddaughter went viral.
The arrest came hours after the Gujarat high court detained the BJP-led state government for poor enforcement of rules related to wearing masks and maintaining social distancing and expressed surprise that the former MLA could invite 2,000 people with the authorities turning a blind eye. that.
This is the first such action against a politician of the ruling BJP in Gujarat, which came after a strong reprimand by the high court. Also earlier, in the wake of political demonstrations by the BJP and Congress in the run-up to the recent by-election to the assembly, the court had observed that state politicians must behave responsibly in order to send the right message to the people.
In this case, the event was organized by Kanti Gamit on November 30 in Doswada village in Tapi district. The video showed hundreds of people dancing, throwing all the Covid-19 guidelines into the wind. He was arrested under Section 308 of the Indian Penal Code.
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He admitted that it was a mistake to allow such a large gathering at the function. “I apologize for the mistake. We had organized the engagement ceremony for Tulsi Vivah and my granddaughter together, but we did not personally invite anyone. We prepare food for 2,000 people and we also organize dances. Someone made the video and it went viral, ”he told reporters Wednesday.
Gujarat has more than 2.11 lakh positive cases and the death toll has exceeded 4,000. Four cities of Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot are under an indefinite night curfew.
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