NCP workers allege lathi-charge during CM's campaign

Some workers of the Nationalist Congress Party alleged that police used lathi-charge when they shouted slogans during Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' 'Maha-janadesh Yatra' in Baramati on Saturday.

Police denied that lathi-charge was used.

Fadnavis' pre-poll outreach campaign reached Baramati, stronghold of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, on Saturday.

"Chief minister's visit and subsequent program took place in peaceful manner. After the CM left, some (NCP) workers started shouting slogans. There was no law and order situation," said a release by Pune rural police.

"Mild force" was used to deter the workers, the police said.

However, a video showed NCP workers shouting slogans and police chasing them away while Fadnavis was addressing a gathering from atop his specially modified vehicle.

Some NCP workers alleged that police used lathi- charge.

In his speech, Fadnavis said no NCP leader from Pune district was ready to stick to the Pawar-led party.

He also used a line from the song 'Bure kaam ka bura natija, kyu bhai chacha, haan bhatija' from the film "Chacha Bhatija", in apparent jibe at Sharad Pawar and his nephew Ajit Pawar.

After the grand welcome he received in Baramati, "some people will not be able to sleep tonight", he said.

The yatra reached Pune late in the evening.