Former Maharashtra Congress President and MLA Nana Patole is being slammed by BJP leaders after a video of him getting his feet washed by two supporters went viral on social media.
The video shows the Congress leader sitting on a sofa while two party workers wash his feet with water and milk in a plate.
They then clean his feet with a cloth.
The two workers then offer fruit at his feet and then apply a tilak and place a cap on him.
The ritual ends with the workers placing a turban on Patole and then showing him flowers and then presenting him with a bouquet. Patole is mostly busy on his phone when the ritual happened.
The video is believed to have been taken on Guru Purnima.
The the video went viral, and Maharashtra politicians are now slamming the minister.
The BJP slammed the video and said that it was “Congress’s culture." He said that this is the culture and actions of Congress leaders.
Many pointed out that the video reminded them of a dangerous trend of “personality cult”
Guru Purnima is a festival where people remember their gurus and teachers.
Patole dismissed the controversy surrounding the matter and insisted that he had neither asked nor forced anyone to perform such a ritual.
He said, "It was Guru Puja that day. Two young members of my family were present. They insisted that they considered me their guru and wanted to do this as a mark of respect."
The Congress leader also said he had no right to preach to others about culture and traditions. "Those who loot donations shouldn't be giving us advice," he said.
The Congress leader has found himself in similar controversies before. In 2023, Patole courted controversy after getting his feet washed by a party worker. At the time, his shoes were covered in mud, which the worker washed off with water.
