Congress MP seen slapping party's woman legislator in video both play down incident

Nagpur, Nov 4 (PTI) A video showing Congress' Ramtek MP Shyamkumar Barve lightly slapping party MP Pratibha Dhanorkar went viral on Wednesday, with both leaders stating that it was a joke.

    The incident took place inside a stationary bus during the Opposition's protest rally against the Election Commission in Delhi on November 1.

    The video showed Dhanorkar, seated next to MP Varsha Gaikwad, laughing at a joke. Barve is then seen standing next to her and slapping her lightly.

    Dhanorkar, Lok Sabha MP from Chandrapur, looks startled and upset.

    Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Barve said Dhanorkar was like his younger sister, and the video was being circulated to discredit the party's protest.

    They were only joking and there was nothing more to it, he said, while also dismissing as "fake" an alleged email sent by some Congress workers in Nagpur to the party leadership complaining about the incident.

    Elsewhere, Dhanorkar too played down the incident. She and some other women leaders were joking about Barve's marital status and he playfully slapped her, she told reporters.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)