New Delhi, Mar 24 (PTI) A 27-year-old man from Odisha has said that he has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to convince his parents to not organise a "mass gathering" of guests at his wedding to be held next month in view of the coronavirus outbreak.

In his letter, Rohit Kumar, a strategist and media coordinator for Gram Vikas Residential Schools in Odisha, has appealed to Modi to pursuade his family as they are his ardent admirers and may listen to him.

"I have been trying to persuade my family to organise the function without mass gathering of guests but my family is reluctant to listen to my appeal as they are hopeful that situation may return to normalcy in a month. But I fear that even though the situation becomes comparatively normal in a month, still mass gathering may prove to be a risky move even at that stage," Kumar, who is set to get married in April end, said.

"Since my family is reluctant to listen to my appeal in this regard, I have penned a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to persuade my family to listen to my appeal. As all my family members are ardent admirers of the prime minister, they are likely to listen to his persuation," he said in the letter which he has released in the media as he fears it will not reach the prime minister in time.

Modi on Wednesday announced a nationwide 21 days lockdown to check the spread of novel coronavirus.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)