A day after the expansion of the Maharashtra Cabinet, supporters of three-time Congress MLA Sangram Thopate on Tuesday vandalised the Congress Bhavan office in Pune’s to express their ire against the party leaders for not inducting him in the ministry.
According to party sources, a group of 35-40 people barged into the Congress Bhavan (in the city’s Shivajinagar area) around 5.30 p.m. and destroyed the furniture, ripped party banners, and shouted slogans in support of Mr. Thopate.
Shards of glass, broken pieces of wood, and mangled furniture lay strewn across the floor following the attack.
“It appears to be a pre-planned attack. The group simply stormed the office and went about damaging everything in sight. Most of the chairs and glass-topped tables were smashed, so was a television set and office stationery. The Shivajinagar police have detained eight to ten people,” Pune City Congress general secretary Ramesh Iyer told The Hindu .
Mr. Iyer said that Pune Congress chief Ramesh Bagwe would decide on the future course of action.
“We will carry out a stern investigation into this affair... venting one’s spleen in this violent manner is intolerable and not in conformity with Congress party traditions. If indeed he (Mr. Thopate) is upset at not being given a Cabinet berth, then he ought to express his grievances to the party high command instead of destroying the Pune Congress party office, which had nothing to do with the decision of not including him in the Cabinet,” said Pune Congress president Ramesh Bagwe.
He said a complaint had been filed in the Shivajinagar police station.
Of the ten Congress leaders who took oath as Ministers on Monday, the party has not given any Cabinet representation for Pune, while inducting only two among them as Ministers of State from western Maharashtra.
The lack of representation for Pune has triggered strong discord among Mr. Thopate’s supporters, who were ardently hoping that the three-time MLA from Bhor would be given a cabinet berth.
On Monday too Mr. Thopate’s supporters had burnt Congress flex boards and expressed their ire against the party top brass while the swearing-in ceremony was on.