File photo of former union minister Raosaheb Danve.
Credit: PTI Photo
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: BJP leader and former Union minister Raosaheb Danve kicked up controversy quite literally by hitting a person with his leg when the latter tried to get into the frame while he was being photographed.
The man, however, later claimed that he was a friend of Danve and he was only trying to fix his shirt.
The senior BJP leader has been campaigning across Maharashtra for the November 20 assembly elections.
A video of the alleged incident that occurred at Bhokardan in Jalna district on Monday went viral on social media.
Danve met Shiv Sena leader and former minister Arjun Khotkar and was being felicitated and photographed when a man tried to get in the frame.
The video shows a person coming into the frame and Danve kicking him with his right leg, asking him to move aside.
Talking to reporters, the man, who identified himself as Shaikh, claimed to be a friend of the senior BJP leader.
"I am a close friend of Raosaheb Danve, and we have a friendship of 30 years. The news that has gone viral is wrong. I was only trying to fix Danve's shirt," he said.
Reacting to the incident, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said, "Raosaheb should have been in football. BJP workers have got nothing in the past two years. So they should reconsider if they want to vote for the BJP again."
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
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