Hundreds of people dotted the road leading to the party headquarters.
Chennai:
As ruling AIADMK began celebrations for its 49th founding day in Tamil Nadu this morning, hundreds of party workers gathered to mark the event at the party’s headquarters in Chennai, violating government-imposed social distancing rules in the middle of the new coronavirus pandemic.
The footage showed large crowds at the AIADMK headquarters as Senior Vice Minister O. Panneerselvam led the grand event. Hundreds of people dotted the road leading to the party headquarters.
A party member told NDTV: “We have asked members to comply with COVID regulations.”
The state does not allow the gathering of more than five people, as restrictions continue to control the spread of the virus, which has affected more than 6.7 lakh people in Tamil Nadu. The southern state has registered the fourth highest number of cases in the country. So far, more than 10,000 people have died in the state.
The state capital has reported an increase of more than 1,000 new cases every day.
Similar violations were observed about a week ago when AIADMK announced that E Palaniswami will be the ruling party’s top ministerial candidate for the Tamil Nadu elections next year.
While party members were seen wearing masks at both events; however, government agencies and medical experts have been constantly reminding people to avoid large gatherings where the virus can easily spread.
Across India, more than 74 lakh have contracted the virus since the start of the pandemic; 1.12 lakh have died. India is the second worst affected country in the world after the United States.
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