SEVERAL POLITICAL leaders, including Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar, have cancelled their public functions in view of the increase in coronavirus cases in the state. On Sunday, the state government announced religious, social and political gatherings will be prohibited in Maharashtra from Monday in view of the rising Covid-19 cases. A total of 6,971 new cases were reported from across the state Sunday, raising the state’s infection tally to 21,00,884 even as state ministers Rajesh Tope, Chhagan Bhujbal, Bacchu Kadu and Jayant Patil, who is also the state NCP chief, have been tested positive for Covid-19 recently and are currently in isolation. State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, who was also infected by the virus recently, has now recovered. Pawar, who is a part of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi government, tweeted, “In the backdrop of increasing Covid-19 spread and the appeal made by Chief Minister (Uddhav Thackeray) as well as Deputy CM (Ajit Pawar), I have cancelled all my planned public functions.” Congress minister Nitin Raut, meanwhile, cancelled the wedding reception of his son considering the coronavirus situation. “Considering the situation, we have cancelled the wedding reception of my son, Kunal. The Chief Minister, while addressing the state, appreciated our social consciousness and blessed my son. I thank the CM for the same,” he said. State Tourism minister Aaditya Thackeray appreciated Raut’s move. “Cabinet Minister Raut has cancelled the wedding reception of his son, taking into account the rising cases of Covid. We must all appreciate this social responsibility taken by him,” he said. Uday Samant, the Higher and Technical Education Minister, also announced, “I have decided to cancel the open house programme of state higher and technical education ministry on Monday as per the appeal made by the chief minister due to Covid-19 situation” . The state NCP has already declared its weekly ‘Janata Darbar’, organised at its state office in Mumbai, has been postponed for two weeks considering the spike in cases. - Stay updated with the latest Pune news. Follow Express Pune on Twitter here and on Facebook here. You can also join our Express Pune Telegram channel here.
