Rohit Pawar shares video of minister threatening to slap official; Maha CM downplays incident

Mumbai: In a fresh row involving Maharashtra ministers, NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar criticised Minister of State Meghana Bordikar after sharing a video purportedly showing her threatening to slap a village official at a programme in Parbhani.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, however, downplayed the incident, stating that every comment made by a minister should not be blown out of proportion.

Rohit Pawar, in a post on X on Sunday, said, "Those who play rummy in the House, fill bags of cash, run dance bars, first make mistakes and then try to glorify them and celebrate such actions... now a new addition is a minister threatening to slap an officer during a programme."

Sharing a video of the minister, he questioned her action of threatening to slap a gram sevak during a government programme because he failed to fulfil a target related to beneficiaries of a housing scheme.

"Devendra Fadnavis ji, what kind of ‘sajjan’ (decent) ministers have you found? Your cabinet’s image is damaged, and more importantly, the dignity of Maharashtra is being compromised. Please control them," he wrote in the post.

Speaking to reporters, Bordikar, Minister of State for Public Health, alleged that the video clip circulating on social media had been edited.

"No one should try to mislead the public by posting an edited clip. What I said was in the interest of the people. I was speaking in front of Zilla Parishad officials about one staff member who has not improved his work. If someone doesn't listen, we must speak in a language and tone they understand," the BJP leader said.

Reacting to the development, Fadnavis on Sunday said, "Ministers at times make comments in a light vein. If we blow them out of proportion, it does not look good. Some statements are important, some are wrong. I have spoken to Meghana Bordikar.

"Only a selected portion of her comment was shown on social media. She told me she will give me a full account of the incident when we meet."

Meanwhile, Suresh Bhumare, chief of the BJP's Parbhani district unit, on Monday alleged that a former MLA from the Ajit Pawar-led NCP had sent an edited clip of Bordikar’s speech to Rohit Pawar.

“As per the information I have, an ex-MLA of NCP sent the clip. This proves that both NCP factions — Ajit Pawar-led and Sharad Pawar-led — are the same. There was a complaint against the gramsevak in Parbhani, and Bordikar scolded him accordingly,” Bhumare told reporters.