Unruly scenes were witnessed today at a programme in the town where Chief Minister Harish Rawat was to inaugurate Rudrapur as a tesil when a local BJP MLA and a former Congress minister "exchanged expletives" with each other in full public view.
The trouble began in the presence of the chief minister at the programme when the two leaders, BJP legislator Rajkumar Thukral and former Congress minister Tilak Raj Behad sought to "grab credit" for the elevation of the town into a tehsil.
Both of them credited it to their efforts in their speeches.
Tilak Raj Behad said it was his proposal which was put on the backburner by the previous BJP government.
This enraged Thukral who began mouthing swear words from the dias in reaction.
Behad also reacted angrily heaping abuses on the BJP MLA and supporters of the two leaders were about to clash with each other.
Tempers cooled down only after Thukral was taken away from the programme venue by security personnel and the Chief Minister intervened threatening to leave the dias if leaders did not behave themselves.
