Mumbai: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has come under fire from the opposition as well as social media users after a video, in which he is allegedly involved in a physical altercation on Sunday with a distressed citizen from Nagpur seeking assistance amid the city's flooding, went viral.
In a viral video on social media platforms, Devendra Fadnavis can be seen engaging in conversations with several city residents who were expressing their dissatisfaction with the authorities' lackadaisical response to the dire situation. The video depicts Fadnavis initially conversing with a woman as she recounts her challenging experiences. Meanwhile, a man standing behind her also attempts to communicate with the Deputy Chief Minister. In the video, Fadnavis is seen grabbing the man's hand, pulling him out of the crowd and then forcefully pushing him forward into his security entourage.
Watch the video here:
Opposition slams Fadnavis over viral video
Maharashtra Congress, sharing the video on X (formerly Twitter), hit out at 'arrogant' Deputy CM.
"Arrogant Fadnavis with citizens reporting damage caused by rain water. Is this the way to deal with your voters? If it is not the arrogance of power, what else can it be called?" Maharashtra Congress wrote.
Shiv Sena (UBT) also slammed DCM Fadnavis, terming his action as 'arrogance of power'.
"The arrogance of power. Fadnavis pushes citizen suffering from the flood and asked for help!" Shiv Sena wrote.
Fadnavis visits home turf Nagpur amid flooding
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday morning took stock of the rain situation in Nagpur and visited homes to interact with the flood-affected families.
Extremely heavy rainfall of 109 millimetres in three hours, including 90 mm between 2am and 4am on Saturday, inundated several areas of the city, he said.
The National Disaster Response Force and its state counterpart SDRF are undertaking rescue and relief operations across Vidarbha's largest city, he informed.
In the morning, Fadnavis visited areas in the vicinity of Ambazari Lake, the city's largest waterbody, which breached its boundaries on Saturday due to heavy rains.
Nagpur flooding
Due to relentless rainfall and a cloudburst on Saturday, residents of Nagpur, the second capital of Maharashtra, were compelled to evacuate their homes. Extensive flooding inundated entire neighborhoods.
According to reports from the news agency PTI, floodwaters breached approximately 10,000 residences within the city. Visuals captured by Reuters depicted individuals wading through knee-deep water on the streets. Tragically, four lives have been lost, and a minimum of 400 individuals have been relocated from the flooded regions to safer locations.
