Chhattisgarh minister Amarjeet Bhagat said none of the functions were for his birthday.

Ambikapur:

The BJP has claimed  that Chhattisgarh minister Amarjeet Bhagat had violated social distancing norms amid the coronavirus pandemic by organising programmes on his birthday, an allegation which the minister has denied.

Mr Bhagat said one of the events in Ambikapur town of Surguja district in the state was organised to felicitate frontline COVID-19 warriors, and not to celebrate his birthday.

“At a time when people are being asked to maintain physical distancing and not step out unnecessarily to contain coronavirus spread, (Amarjeet) Bhagat organised functions in Ambikapur town on his birthday where huge crowds had gathered,” the BJP state unit secretary Anurag Singh Deo alleged.

Videos of the functions held at two places clearly show that the social distancing protocol were not followed and people had not worn masks at these events, he claimed, demanding that an offence be registered against the minister and programme organisers.

The minister refuted these allegations and said: “I attended several programmes on Monday and coincidentally, it was also my birthday. However, none of these functions were organised for my birthday.”

Mr Bhagat claimed that he had attended functions at all development blocks of Surguja district and at Ambikapur, he attended an event organised to felicitate COVID-19 warriors.

“We distributed masks at all places. We cannot deny anyone if they come to collect masks. We also gave away raincoats to 400 sanitation workers,” he said.

Volunteers who had distributed food to the needy during the lockdown were also felicitated with shawls and certificates, he claimed.