When planning meet turns into fist fight between BJP lawmakers in MP

Two elected representatives of the ruling BJP came to blows during the district planning committee meeting here Wednesday evening in full public glare. The incident took place when the planning committee meeting was underway at the collectorate in the presence of minister in-charge of the district, Ashutosh Tandon.

BJP MP from Sant Kabir Nagar Sharad Tripathi and MLA from Mehdawal, Rakesh Baghel, got involved in a verbal duel over taking credit for a newly laid road. After a brief exchange of words, laced with abuses, both came to blows with one of them using a shoe to thrash the other, leaving officials and party leaders stunned.

The video clip of the incident surfaced on TV channels. A senior police officer present in the meeting intervened to pacify the two and restore order as tempers ran high. In the meantime, Tandon, the state Medical Education Minister, left the place. The video shows Tripathi getting furious, complaining that his name was missing from the foundation stone for a road in the district's Mehdawal area.

Asked to comment, BJP district president Set Bhan Rai said, "The minister called me and told me about the clash between the MP and the MLA during the meeting as I was somewhere else. The state BJP president also asked me about the incident." When contacted, a BJP leader on condition of anonymity said in Lucknow that the issue involved senior leaders and state party president Mahendra Nath Pandey will decide on the matter.

(With inputs from agencies.)