"I Changed My Shirt And Moved Ahead": Maharashtra Minister On Ink Attack

Ink was thrown at BJP leader and Maharashtra cabinet minister Chandrakant Patil on Saturday in Pimpri Chinchwad city of Pune district over his alleged remark on Dr BR Ambedkar and Mahatma Jyotiba Phule.

A video showed that a man suddenly comes in front of Mr Patil and throws ink at his face as the minister comes out from a building.

While addressing media persons after the incident, Mr Patil said, "I went to distribute certificates at a university in Paithan in Devgiri district on completion of the course. They asked for more funds. Rs 12 crore is already given to them and they asked for more Rs 23 crore from the government. While sanctioning it, I said the government will surely give but you should try and collect funds from other sources. With due respect, I said that in Maharashtra, schools were started by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, Mahatma Phule and Maharshi Karve. When did I criticize Dr Ambedkar and Mahatma Phule? I said they did not wait for the government's financial aid but they begged (bheek) to start a school," he said.

Giving clarification of what he meant by begging, the BJP leader said, "I come from 'dehat' (rural area), they have a problem with it. In 'dehat', even a mother says (to her child) after your father's death I begged to raise you. Does it mean she was standing with a begging bowl? When someone goes to the court and pleads to the judge for justice and says "I beg for Justice", is it wrong? Is 'bheek' the wrong word?"

He said that Ambedkar and Phule did not seek government grants for educational institutions and started schools and you should also do the same. "What did I say wrong?" he asked.

Mr Patil further said that the incident did not impact him.

"Nothing can happen by splashing ink on my face. Doesn't impact me. I changed my shirt and moved ahead," he said.

The Maharashtra minister further appealed to his party workers not to take law and order in hand while protesting and asked if they want to protest, then protest democratically.

He also urged Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to not to take any action against any police personnel and not to suspend them.

"The accused has been detained and the police are doing their work," he added.

Earlier this week, Mr Patil had said that Babasaheb Ambedkar and Mahatma Phule went to people, and begged to start schools.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders condemned the ink attack.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the meaning of what Chandrakant Patil had said should have been understood.

"It is a very sad incident. The meaning of what Chandrakant Patil had said should have been understood. It meant that Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar or Dr Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil never ran institutions by seeking grants from the govt," said Mr Fadnavis.

"They made arrangements for the education of the people by raising money from society and taking charitable people along. Doing such an incident is very wrong," he added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)