Ink was thrown at Maharashtra Minister and BJP leader Chandrakant Patil
Pune:
Ink was thrown at Maharashtra Minister and BJP leader Chandrakant Patil in the city of Pimpri recently on Saturday in apparent protest at his controversial remarks about Dr BR Ambedkar and social reformer Mahatma Jyotiba Phule .
Ankush Shinde, Pimpri-Chinchwad police commissioner, said police had arrested the man who threw ink on Patil and that further investigation was underway.
Commenting on the incident, Deputy Premier Devendra Fadnavis said Patil’s statement was misunderstood by the people.
A video of the incident shows a man throwing ink at senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader as he exits a building. Security personnel around the minister immediately arrested the man.
Before the ink-throwing incident, some protesters also tried to raise a black flag for the minister’s convoy in Pimpri.
Speaking in Marathi at an event in Aurangabad on Friday, Patil, the Minister of Higher and Technical Education, said that Ambedkar and Phule are not seeking government grants for educational institutions, they “begged” people to donate money to establish schools and colleges.
The use of the word “beggar” has caused controversy.
Speaking in Nagpur, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the incident in Pimpri was very regrettable and Patil’s statement was misinterpreted.
Fadnavis told reporters, even if Patil used the wrong words, people should try to understand what he meant.
The BJP leader said all he was trying to convey was that people like Dr Ambedkar or educator Bhaurao Patil don’t receive money from the government to run educational institutes.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
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