BJP corporator, 3 aides blacken Sena leader’s face, held

KALYAN: The

Dombivli police

on Friday arrested BJP corporator Mahesh Patil and three of his

supporters

for allegedly blackening the face of a Shiv Sena leader who had called for a protest against BJP state president Raosaheb Danve for his controversial remarks against agitating farmers.

Patil, Lahu Thakur, Laxman Kadam and Swapnil Jadhav were later produced before a Kalyan court, which granted them bail on a surety amount of Rs 15,000 each.

On Thursday, tension prevailed in Kalyan-Dombivli as Shiv Sainiks faced off with BJP workers over Danve’s controversial statement at a meeting organized by BJP's Jalna unit. He reportedly said that despite the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government taking a series of measures to tackle agrarian crisis, particularly the dispute over procurement of tur dal, farmers were still crying.

After angry Sainiks got out on the streets and displayed their ire against Danve by slapping an effigy of him with sandals, BJP workers burned copies of the Sena mouthpiece Saamna. Later, at night, Patil and his supporters blackened the face of Sena leader Bhau Chaudhari, who had led the protest against Danve, said the police. Sainks then damaged banners and posters at a local BJP office and demanded that the police arrest Patil and his supporters on Friday, else they would call for a Dombivli bandh on Saturday.

BJP MLA Narendra Pawar told TOI, “We will give them (Sainiks) a fitting reply in their style.”

The Opposition called the face-off between the workers of the two parties a drama to divert public’s attention from real issues.