THREE men were detained after one of them threw ink at BJP leader and state Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil on Saturday while he was leaving a party leader’s residence in Chinchwadgaon area of Pimpri-Chinchwad.
As Patil was stepping out of the house, a man threw ink from a bottle at his face. The policemen present at the spot detained the man as well as two others who were raising slogans against Patil.
“… There were three individuals… one of them threw ink at the minister while two others were raising slogans. The policemen present at the spot nabbed all three men,” Pimpri-Chinchwad Police Commissioner Ankush Shinde said.
“We have taken three individuals into custody. One of them is 34 years old and lives in Pimpri. We are trying to establish the identities of the other two. So far, it seems they are not from any political party but we are verifying the details.”
The minister has been criticised by the Opposition, including NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) over his remarks at a function in Paithan on Friday. Speaking at the event, Patil had said that Jyotiba Phule, Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar had all started schools in the country. “When they started schools, the government did not give them aid. They started schools by going to the people and begging for money,” the BJP leader had said.
Patil, meanwhile, said: “What I meant was begging for funds is similar to present-day concepts of Corporate Social Responsibility, donations or crowd-funding… I should not have used the word ‘begging.’ The use of such a word is common practice in rural areas. I should have instead used the word crowd-funding. This morning, I apologised for it yet this attack happened.”
Patil said he wanted to ask Opposition leaders Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray and Ajit Pawar whether they approve of such attacks. “I expect that they will condemn this,” he added.
BJP leader and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis said: “This is a very unfortunate incident. Though one word in his sentence may have been wrong, but the meaning of the sentence should be considered… Regarding the one word that was hurtful, Chandrakant Patil gave an explanation and issued an apology. After that, such a reaction is unfortunate…”. “It is important to be mindful while making speeches but the gist must also be understood,” he added.
Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Manisha Kayande, meanwhile, said, “We condemn the attack. But at the same time, we also deplore the tendency among members of the ruling party to first make disparaging remarks against national icons and then apologise.”
WITH ENS, MUMBAI
