MUMBAI: During an election campaign in Nagpur on Saturday former Chief Minister and Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) President Ashok Chavan's face was blackened by a youth. The Congress on Sunday blamed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for the incident.
The Congress said that the ink attack was a plot by the RSS to foil the rally. "We will continue to fight against such forces and ensure that they do not succeed in their game plan," Chavan said on Saturday night. However, party insiders said that the incident of throwing ink was the outcome of the fierce factionalism that has riddled the already ailing party.
The police identified the youth as Lalit Baghel, who threw ink at Chavan and other Congress leaders like former Union minister Vilas Muttemwar at the rally in Hasanbagh in east Nagpur on Saturday night. Baghel is said to be a supporter of a faction of Congress, which opposes Muttemwar. Party workers present at the rally beat up Baghel and tore off his clothes before handing him over to the police.