A political uproar erupted in Maharashtra's Dombivli after a video of BJP workers forcibly draping a sari on 73-year-old Congress worker Prakash "Mama" Pagare went viral.
This comes after the Congress worker, known for being outspoken, had posted a morphed video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi wearing a sari. BJP workers immediately took offence to the post, as well as the song accompanying it, which they called "derogatory".
In the video, BJP party workers can be seen holding Pagare in place at Manpada Road, while one of them draped a pink sari around him, despite his feeble protests.
"Glory be to the Bharatiya Janata Party!" the workers chanted, after they had finished draping the Congress leader in the pink sari.
The protest was led by BJP's district president for Kalyan, Nandu Parab, who strongly condemned Pagare's earlier actions.
“Posting such a distasteful image of our Prime Minister is not only offensive but also unacceptable. If such attempts are made again to defame our leaders, the BJP will give an even stronger reply,” he warned, as per a Navbharat Times report.
The Congress party sharply criticised the BJP's response, calling it an "attack on the freedom of expression".
“Pagare is a 73-year-old senior party worker. If he had posted something objectionable, BJP members should have lodged a complaint with the police instead of misleading him and then forcibly making him wear a sari," Kalyan district Congress president Sachin Pote said, as per the same report.
“We demand that police take appropriate action against those involved in this incident,” he added.