HD Kumaraswamy defies coronavirus lockdown, son Nikhil marries Congress leader's grand-niece

Amid nationwide lockdown over coronavirus, former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy went ahead with the wedding of his son who tied the nuptial knot with the grand-niece of Congress leader M Krishnappa.

Pictures from the wedding showed that no social distancing norms were followed and people were seen without masks. The Central Government has made it mandatory for people to wear masks in public places. 

The wedding ceremony of Nikhil Kumaraswamy with Revathi was held at Kumaraswamy's Kethaganahalli farmhouse at Bidadi in Ramanagara district of Karnataka on Friday.

Reports citing family sources said that plans of a grand function were shelved in view of the COVID-19 lockdown with only close family members in attendance. Nikhil's grandfather and former Prime Minister and Deve Gowda was seen blessing the couple during the wedding ritual. 

Revathi is the grand-niece of former Karnata housing minister M Krishnappa. Nikhil is an actor in Kannada film industry and also contested Lok Sabha poll as a JD (S) candidate in the 2019 general election from Mandya but lost to an Independent candidate.  

This came a day after Karnataka registered its largest single-day spike of 36 cases in COVID-19 infections. Karnataka has recorded 315 cases and 13 deaths due to coronavirus. 

While media was banned from covering the function, VIPs attended the wedding to bless the couple, defying social distancing norms put in place to battle the novel coronavirus. 

Reports said scores of people thronged the farmhouse to get a glimpse of the wedding ignoring appeals not to visit the venue in view of the ongoing lockdown. Ramanagara near Bengaluru is a JD(S) stronghold.

Ramanagar BJP district president M Rudresh alleged that at least 150 to 200 vehicles were given permission to attend the event. 

"This happened when the social workers who want to serve the badly affected poor people are not getting permission to run their vehicles," he said.

"Till now Ramanagara is safe from coronavirus and is in the green zone. If at all the disease spreads in Ramanagara, the entire blame will be on Deve Gowda's family," Rudresh said, adding that he would meet the Deputy Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police of Ramanagara district and ask them how permission was granted for such a "large gathering".

In a video message released earlier this week, Kumaraswamy explained that the event will be a low-key family affair with a minimum number of people. He had also appealed to his party workers, relatives and well-wishers not to visit the venue.

He said the marriage was planned at their home in Bengaluru but the venue was shifted to Ramanagara farmhouse after the lockdown was announced. He said social distancing was a challenge at the previous venue and also cited Bengaluru being in the "Red Zone" with maximum COVID-19 cases in the state as also a reason for the shift in the venue.