A video has surfaced in which Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Abdul Sattar is purportedly heard asking Beed district collector Radhabinod Sharma if he drinks alcohol.
Sattar made the alleged comment while on a tour of Beed district in central Maharashtra to assess damage to crops caused by excessive rains in October. He was in Gevrai taluka of the district on October 21 to inspect crop damage.
The video, which surfaced on Thursday, shows the minister sitting in a hall with collector Sharma, district officials and some other people. When tea is served to Sattar and others present in the hall, Sharma declines to have tea. At this point, Sattar is purportedly heard asking the collector, "Do you drink alcohol?" As the video went viral on social media, the minister faced flak for his remarks. Maharashtra Congress general secretary Sachin Sawant took potshots at Sattar and tweeted to ask "whether it was rain damage tour or alcohol watching tour?"