Video of crowd at engagement ceremony in Gujarat goes viral, Ex-BJP minister says it was a mistake

After the video of a swelling crowd celebrating at the engagement ceremony of the granddaughter of Gujarat’s former minister Kanti Gamit went viral for violating Covid-19 rules, the former minister on Wednesday said it was a mistake. Only a few people were invited and food for 2,000 people was prepared, Gamit said. “I apologise as it was a mistake. We had organised Tulsi Vivah and my granddaughter’s engagement ceremony together but didn’t invite anyone personally. We’d prepared food for 2000 people and also organised dance. Someone made the video & it went viral,” Gamit said after Gujarat police said they were taking action against the organisers.

The event took place on November 30 at Doswada village in Tapi district. It went viral as several people could be seen milling around, dancing, celebrating throwing all Covid-19 caution to the wind.

Recently, the Gujarat government imposed a 57-hour curfew in Ahmedabad and night curfew has been brought back in Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot. Only 100 guests are allowed at wedding events with strict adherence to Covid-19 rules, including mandatory social distancing, wearing of masks etc.

However, the viral video shows that those who attended the event were neither maintaining social distance nor wearing masks.

On Tuesday, the Covid-19 caseload in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad district rose to 50,409, after 332 persons tested positive for the infection.