PUNE: A day after the state president of NCP‘s youth wing, Suraj Chavan, and other party members thrashed Chhava organisation’s office bearer, Vijay Ghatge, in Latur, NCP chief Ajit Pawar asked Chavan to resign from his post in the party. Pawar stated that he would not tolerate any behaviour that is against the party’s culture.Pawar took to his social media handle, X, to post a message stating that a serious decision was taken to show that the party would not tolerate any action against its culture. “Against the backdrop of yesterday’s serious incident in Latur, I have instructed NCP state youth president Suraj Chavan to resign from his post. I strongly protest any form of violence and the use of unparliamentary language. The identity of NCP is based on the democratic value of equality taught by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Shahu Maharaj, Mahatma Phule, and Babasaheb Ambedkar. I want to make it clear to all the party workers to give priority to democracy, peaceful conduct, and non-violence,” Pawar wrote on the ‘X’ handle on Monday.The incident took place in Latur on Sunday when Ghatge and other Chhava organisation members went to meet state NCP president Sunil Tatkare to give him a memorandum, demanding the resignation of state agriculture minister Manikrao Kokate after his video of playing a game of cards in the assembly surfaced. While submitting the memorandum, the protestors threw playing cards in the air as a mark of protest and hurled slogans. After Tatkare left the conference hall, Chavan and other party members attacked Ghatge, who was sitting in another room in the same premises.Following strong reactions from opposition parties as well as farmers’ organisations, Chavan tendered an apology and said, “There were some unconstitutional words used by the protestors which led to the conflict between NCP and Chhava members. However, I regret my action and apologise for the same. I will soon be meeting Ghatge in person to clear up all the misunderstanding.”Meanwhile, Chhava organisation members from various districts, including Latur, Nanded, Dharashiv, and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, have registered protests against the incident and demanded strict action against Chavan and other NCP members involved in the incident.
