A Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Karnataka celebrated his birthday with hundreds of supporters on Friday, in complete violation of the nation-wide lockdown and social distancing measures to fight the coronavirus outbreak, NDTV reported.

M Jayaram, the MLA from Turuvekere in Karnataka’s Tumakuru district, cut a large cake and distributed it to hundreds of villagers, including children, in Gubbi taluk. Jayaram was seen wearing gloves in the tightly packed pandal erected for the celebration. The guests were also served biryani.

The state Congress demanded strict action against Jayaram, and tweeted that while Prime Minister Narendra Modi “preaches social distancing”, his party leaders are its “biggest violators”. “Are BJP members above the law?” the Congress asked.

Last month, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa attended the marriage ceremony of a BJP leader at Belagavi after banning all social gatherings in the state. Later on March 16, hundreds of Congress workers defied the social distancing norms to honour the newly-appointed state party President DK Shivakumar.

Karnataka has over 200 cases of the coronavirus with six deaths, including one in Tumakuru district.

Several states have called for an extension on the lockdown, saying they would not be able to deal with a surge of cases.