Two people were detained by the police in Maharashtra’s Solapur on Friday for throwing turmeric powder at Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, a minister in the Maharashtra government. A video of the incident also went viral on social media.
The incident happened in the circuit house of Solapur, where a few members of the ‘Dhangar Aarkhshan Sangharsh Samiti’ had assembled to submit a letter pertaining to their demand to grant reservations to the Dhangar community.
When the minister came forward to receive their letter, a man, identified as Shekhar Bangle, threw ‘Bhandara’ (turmeric powder) at the minister, following which he was thrashed by the men who were accompanying the minister.
Shekhar Bangle was then taken into custody by the police personnel present in the circuit house.
Speaking to the media, Shekhar Bangle said that the government needs to pay attention to the demands for reservations by the Dhangar community.
Later, speaking about the incident, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil said, “I am happy that ‘Bhandara’, which is considered as pure, was thrown at me. If it was done as a symbolic act or to express sentiments, then I don’t find anything wrong in it.”
With inputs from Vijay Kumar Babar