Headlines
BJP minister flaunts revolver in public, opposition wants sacking
Mumbai, March 30
Maharashtra's Water Resources
Minister Girish Mahajan came under opposition fire on Monday after he
flaunted a revolver while attending a function in his home district
Jalgaon.
While the opposition demanded his sacking as minister, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis rushed to his colleague's rescue.
Mahajan,
who hails from Jamner constituency in Jalgaon, had targeted the former
Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government during the irrigation
scam while he was in the opposition.
Mahajan said it was a
licensed revolver which he has been carrying for the past 25 years for
self-defence, but the opposition was unconvinced by his reply.
"I
have the licence for it since 25 years. Anyone can check that I have
never indulged in any kind of violence. I have never even pointed it at
anybody, it's merely for self-defence," Mahajan said in the assembly on
Monday.
However, he admitted that the revolver was visible while
tucked in his waist, as video clips of the event went viral over social
media networks.
"What is the need to carry a revolver to a school
function for differently-abled children? What message must have gone to
the kids? Besides, if the ministers feel unsafe, then what about the
common masses," NCP leader Jayant Patil told reporters.
Fadnavis said though licensed arms are meant to be carried, they cannot be shown while in public.
"There
was no intention to threaten anybody or create any scare. There is
absolutely nothing illegal in carrying a licensed firearm," Fadnavis
said in a statement in the house after the opposition staged a walkout
in protest.
The chief minister endorsed Speaker Haribhau Bagade's
ruling that ministers should not openly expose or use such weapons in
public, and assured that a directive to this effect would be issued
soon.