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Namdev Jadhav’s face blackened by Sharad Pawar supporters
A video of the incident went viral, showing police intervening to rescue Jadhav amid slogans raised by Pawar supporters
Namdev Jadhav, who recently made controversial statements against Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar, found himself in an unpleasant scenario in the city after Pawar supporters blackened his face near the Patrakar Sangh on Saturday.
A video of the incident went viral, showing police intervening to rescue Jadhav amid slogans raised by Pawar supporters.
NCP city unit president Prashant Jagtap assumed responsibility for the untoward incident.
Reacting to the development, Jagtap said, “We are taking the responsibility of throwing ink on Namdev Jadhav who is making baseless allegations against our leader Sharad Pawar. We warn him to face several such protests if he continues to make bogus allegations without providing any evidence.”
On Saturday, Jadhav’s lecture was scheduled at Bhandarkar Institute, where NCP workers planned to stage a protest and threatened to blacken Jadhav’s face. Considering the gravity of the situation, local police had denied the permission to hold agitations on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Jadhav was addressing media personnel at the Pune Union of Working Journalists before heading for the lecture, when NCP workers breached police protection and attempted to blacken Jadhav’s face with ink.
However, before tensions could escalate, police pushed away the agitators and escorted Jadhav to safety. Following the incident, many protestors raised slogans in support of Sharad Pawar.
After recent agitations over the Maratha quota reservation, Jadhav published several videos on social media, blaming the NCP strongman for not getting a reservation for Marathas.
NCP city unit president Prashant Jagtap said, “We accept responsibility for the incident. We would accept Jadhav’s charges if he had proof, but he is misleading civilians unnecessarily.”
NCP spokesperson and senior leader Ankush Kakade said, “We planned the agitations at Bhandarkar Institute, but our workers did the agitations at the press club. We warned Jadhav not to create unfounded accusations in order to divert attention. But, when he persisted in making bogus claims, we were forced to take this drastic step.”
Jadhav claims to be a descendant of Rajmata Jijabai Bhosale, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s mother.
Meanwhile, Jadhav stated earlier on Saturday, “I don’t care if any of the political workers threaten me; I don’t need to prove my lineage. I encourage young people to focus on building enterprises and earning money rather than fighting over castes and following political figures.”
Jadhav, a motivational speaker, has authored a book about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and has a large following on social media.
