Note: The article, originally published on April 11, has been republished to include the detail on the FIR registered by police.New Delhi: Amidst the Central and the state governments’ attempts to implement, strictly, the nationwide lockdown to arrest the spread of the coronavirus through social distancing, an MLA of the ruling BJP in Karnataka reportedly held his ‘birthday bash’ at a local school. It was attended by over 100 people.According to an Indian Express report, Masale Jayaram, BJP MLA from the Turuvekere constituency in Tumakuru district, held “a grand celebration” at a government school in Idaguru village.“Media reports also suggested that police was also present at the place to provide security to the legislator”, the report said about Jayaram, who is also a local businessman.On Sunday The News Minute reported on Sunday that in the FIR registered by Karnataka police “against three of his supporters and other unidentified persons…suggests that the legislator was visiting various villages in Tumakuru to spread awareness about the coronavirus outbreak.” It makes it implicit that the MLA himself was not there at the party. However, there is abundant pictorial evidence that suggests he was there amidst the celebrations.“The guests, who were seen in photographs and video tightly packed with little regard for the deadly pandemic, were served biryani in Gubbi town, around 90 km from Bengaluru,” NDTV reported.Photos of the celebration show the MLA cutting a chocolate cake while being surrounded by several people, including children. The celebration is in clear violation of the lockdown rules and the photos have gone viral on social media. Interestingly, the MLA is also said to have delivered a speech to those present on how to contain the spread of the coronavirus. He can also be seen wearing surgical gloves, though the person feeding him a cake is not. Some of those at the event can also be seen wearing masks.Local tahsildar Pradeep Kumar Hiremath told the Indian Express, “We have received information about the incident and I have issued a notice to the circle inspector.”However, he is not the first high profile government figure to flout the social distancing norms in Karnataka. The BJP MLA seems to have followed in the footsteps of chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa. On March 15, when restrictions had been imposed on large gatherings Yediyurappa had attended the marriage ceremony of a BJP leader at Belagavi, where around 2,000 people were in attendance. A day later, the state unit of the Congress too gathered in large numbers at party leader D.K. Shivakumar’s residence to celebrate his elevation as the state Congress chief.As per the latest reports from the state, there are more than 200 people who have tested positive for COVID-19.