Mumbai: Not just citizens, corporators too flout restrictions

COVID19 cases in the city have been surging again and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has urged leaders and people to avoid public gatherings But political leaders appear to not heed any rules and continue to celebrate birthdays religious ceremonies and sports events with no regard to safety In pictures taken over seven days politicians appear to be attending events without physical distancing or masksWhen questioned about it some of them said they removed the masks only for a picture or two Here are some instances from the past weekHarshala Ashish More and Vasant Nakashe GNorthHarshala More gives a gift to a woman during the haldikumkum event attended by manyThe Shiv Sena corporators had arranged a massive haldikumkum programme for women in their constituency on February 18 More uploading the pictures of the event where hundreds of women sat closely Nakashe and Morersquos constituency falls in Dharavi area where the outbreak was handled well Nakashe said ldquoWe did arrange such an event but we followed COVID19 protocols In fact we distributed masks Now we have stopped the eventsrdquoSufiyan Vanu FNorthSufiyan Vanu in white centre in multiple pictures holding an iron rod along with other peopleKnown for development works in his constituency Sufiyan Vanu of Congress kickstarted projects during the pandemic as well The corporator posted several images of the inauguration of projects in his constituency Residents are seen around him without masks and physical distancing Asked about it Sufiyan said ldquoI accept that there has been a mistake from my end we did some inaugurations when there were no cases but now I have stopped it completelyrdquoYamini Jadhav Shiv Sena MLAYamini Jadhav surrounded by a group of peopleMLA from Byculla constituency Jadhav was seen attending a tug of war event at Chinchpokli on February 20 and 21 Jadhav handed over the trophy to the winning team The event was attended by over 100 youngsters a few of them were wearing masks Jadhav could not be reached for a commentAdvocate Santosh Kharat GSouthAdvocate Santosh Kharat in kurta surrounded by a cricket teamThe Shiv Sena corporator attended at cricket tournament at BDD chawl no 103 on Sunday February 20 morning A maskless Kharat handed over trophies to the winners amid no social distancing Kharat told midday ldquoI did attend the event but I took out the mask just to take pictures When you donrsquot do it youngsters get upset As corporators we are already spreading awareness about the pandemic but you canrsquot disregard our work by judging a single momentrdquoMangesh Satamkar FNorth and Ramdas Kamble FNorthMangesh Satamkar with party workers first from leftRamdas Kamble a Shiv Sena corporator had arranged a meeting of Yuva Sena officebearers in his constituency Mangesh Satamkar a senior corporator for 26 years attended the meeting on the night of February 22 Asked whether it was appropriate to hold a meeting amid a pandemic Satamkar replied ldquoI did not organise it I had gone to visit Kamblersquos shakha where a few party workers greeted me and sought some guidance I am aware of the pandemic and taking necessary steps accordinglyrdquoCharan Singh Sapra working president and spokesperson for CongressCharan Singh Sapra third from right at the birthday party of Vitthal Satpute Satputersquos name is seen on the poster behindThe national spokesperson for Congress was seen celebrating the birthday of Vitthal Satpute a Congress leader at a ground in Mulund Colony on the night of February 23 Hundreds of party workers had gathered for the celebration Former MP and Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Dina Patil too was present Sapra himself was seen without a mask Sapra could not be reached for commentBrian Miranda Congress leaderBrian Miranda celebrating his birthday with friends and associatesBrian Miranda exCongress corporator and the husband of current Corporator Advocate Tulip Miranda from Kalina was seen celebrating his birthday with friends and associates His associates were seen without masks or physical distancing Miranda told midday ldquoThere was no party as such Few of my associates had dropped by to show love and affection on my birthday on the night of February 22 During such moments you canrsquot always keep an eye or make them follow restrictionsrdquoFeb 18Day Harshala More Vasant Nakashe held a function