BJP MLA Sunil Kamble slaps on-duty police constable at Pune event, sparks row

Mumbai: The trend of abusive, aggressive behaviour by politicians continues in Maharashtra, with Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Sunil Kamble slapping a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) worker and a police constable in Pune on Friday. He later claimed that he did not slap the policeman, but merely pushed him aside.

The list of political leaders who have displayed such behaviour since 2019 resulting in controversies is long and cuts across party lines. It includes NCP leader Jitendra Awhad, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) leaders Abdul Sattar, Santosh Bangar, Prakash Surve and Hemant Patil.

Kamble, who represents the Pune cantonment assembly constituency, was visiting Sasson hospital in Pune to inaugurate a ward for transgenders when the incident occurred. Deputy chief minister and guardian minister of Pune Ajit Pawar, medical education minister Hasan Mushrif, NCP state president and MP Sunil Tatkare, and Congress MLA Ravindra Dhangekar were present at the event.

Reports said Kamble was angered due to his name not being included in the programme’s banner. While getting on stage, he slapped NCP party worker Jitendra Satav as well as a police constable. After videos of the incident went viral, he claimed that he had only pushed aside the policeman in retaliation.

“When I was getting on stage, one person grabbed my shirt’s collar and another person elbowed me thrice. So, I just pushed them back. I don’t know who they are,” he said.

Two days ago, on Wednesday, Kamble’s colleague and Shiv Sena minister Abdul Sattar, who holds charge of the marketing portfolio, sparked a similar controversy when he instructed the police to lathi-charge and break the bones of those who were allegedly creating a ruckus during a dance show in his constituency, Sillod. After a video showing him instructing the police went viral, Sattar claimed that though his language was inappropriate, he was actually trying to pacify the crowd.

Sattar had sparked controversies due his behaviour earlier too, including when he used abusive language for NCP MP Supriya Sule, and when he asked an IAS officer if he consumed alcohol.

The opposition responded to the arrogant behaviour of the two ruling coalition members by attacking the government.

“Yesterday, it was Abdul Sattar and today, it was Sunil Kamble showing off their power. How dare a ruling party MLA slap a police officer on duty? Will the home minister take notice,” leader of opposition in the assembly Vijay Wadettiwar asked, urging the government to take action against Kamble for assaulting police personnel.

“The power hungry and power-drunk BJP and its acolytes continue to shame the state. Yesterday it was the foul-mouthed traitor minister Abdul Sattar who got people lathi charged and today, we have BJP MLA Sunil Kamble hitting a cop on duty,” said Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi.