Ink was thrown at Maharashtra Minister and BJP leader Chandrakant Patil
Pune:
Ink was thrown at Maharashtra Minister and BJP leader Chandrakant Patil in Pimpri city near here on Saturday in apparent protest against his controversial remark about Dr BR Ambedkar and social reformer Mahatma Jyotiba Phule.
The police detained the man who threw ink on Patil and further investigation was underway, Pimpri-Chinchwad police commissioner Ankush Shinde said.
Commenting on the incident, deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said Patil’s statement was misunderstood by people.
A video of the incident showed a man throwing ink at the senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader as he emerged out of a building. Security personnel around the minister immediately caught hold of the man.
Before the incident of ink throwing, some protesters also tried to show black flags to the minister’s convoy in Pimpri.
Speaking in Marathi at an event in Aurangabad on Friday, Patil, who is the Higher and Technical Education Minister, had said that Ambedkar and Phule did not seek government grants for educational institutions, they “begged” to people to gather funds for starting schools and colleges.
The use of the word “begged” stirred up a controversy.
Speaking in Nagpur, Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the incident in Pimpri was very unfortunate, and Patil’s statement had been misunderstood.
Even if Patil used the wrong word, one should try to understand what he meant, Fadnavis told reporters.
All he was trying to convey was that people such as Dr Ambedkar or educationist Bhaurao Patil did not take money from the government to run educational institutes, the BJP leader said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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