Supporters of BJP, NCP (SP) MLAs come to blows in Vidhan Bhavan

Supporters of BJP legislator Gopichand Padalkar and NCP (SP) MLA Jitendra Awhad got into a brawl in the Vidhan Bhavan lobby on Thursday.

- Yogesh Naik

Assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar has announced that the incident will be investigated and strict action taken against the people responsible. After being pulled up by the BJP leadership, Padalkar has apologised.

A tussle between the two MLAs had been simmering over the past few days, with heated verbal exchanges between them on a couple of occasions early this week. On Thursday, the supporters of both took over, and abused and thrashed one another. The supporters all had legislature passes after due recommendation from their leaders. While only MLAs and their personal assistants are allowed into the assembly, many supporters also get in on a pass. Some supporters were also seen making reels.