Paul said he got the information after taking inputs from various state governments, which engaged with the Centre deputed teams there to find out the probable causes behind the steady rise in the number of cases.

"People have gone lax on the Covid protocols. The reasons which the states have cited behind this laxity include crowding at wedding function and elections. Many states admitted this during the interaction with the teams deputed there," Paul said.

Notably, municipal elections and other local body polls have been conducted in Gujarat and few other states recently, while West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry are scheduled to go to the polls in March-April.

Wedding ceremonies also act as superspreaders of the disease since they attract a substantial crowd, often throwing social distancing norms to the wind.