Man rushes towards Fadnavis with job plea, detained

Security officials went into a tizzy when a youth rushed towards Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to give a job application here on Saturday. The youth, who is speech impaired, was detained by the police.

The incident occurred in social crusader Anna Hazare's native Ralegan-Siddhi village where Fadnavis had gone to lay the foundation stone for the first solar power project under the newly-launched Mukhyamantri Agricultural Solar Feeder Scheme.

As he addressed the gathering with Hazare and others on the stage, a mute young man - later identified as Prashant Mahadev Kanade -- lunged towards the stage, bypassing the security cordon.

However, the police immediately caught him and whisked him away from the venue to a waiting van, said L.M. Pawar of Ahmednagar Police Control.

Hazare's aide Suresh Pathare said the jobless man merely wanted to submit a job application and did not indulge in any kind of violence as speculated in some quarters.

Locals say that Kanade, in his 20s, has been very frustrated after he failed to secure a job anywhere owing to his handicap, though he is ready to work even as a peon or security guard in a bank or any government undertaking.

In January, he reportedly sent an application to the CMO, but did not get any response and took the opportunity to approach Fadnavis at the event today.

--IANS

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