MUMBAI: Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Tuesday said he had conveyed his displeasure to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray over the booking of two ministers from the party for brandishing swords at an event some days ago.
An FIR was registered last month against Congress ministers Aslam Shaikh and Varsha Gaikwad and the party's minority cell chief Imran Pratapgarhi for holding aloft swords at a function in Bandra.
Patole said the presentation of swords happens often in such events across the country, adding that the Congress wanted the police's arbitrary working to be controlled.
"In such cases, if police officers are taking wrong action then it is necessary for the Home minister to take strict steps against them. But that did not happen," Patole said, expressing his unhappiness with the Home department, which is controlled by the NCP's Dilip Walse-Patil.
"The chief minister has held a meeting on this issue. We have expressed our displeasure (on the ministers being booked)," Patole told reporters.
Earlier, there was speculation that Thackeray was not happy with Walse-Pail's reply in the Assembly to former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis' allegation that the MVA government was conspiring to implicate BJP leaders in false cases.
However, Thackeray, in a statement on April 1, refuted these reports and said he had full faith in his cabinet colleagues.