'CM bickers like women'

Nationalist Congress leader (NCP) leader Supriya Sule has again slammed Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis by calling him ‘a short-tempered person, who fights like women bickering over water.’

Addressing a women’s rally of the party at Pimpri-Chinchwad ahead of the local body election, Ms Sule said she was wary of the chief minister owing to his highly volatile nature.

“The CM does not listen to anyone. He is petulant and behaves like women bickering over water. Whenever I go to meet him, I feel I should wear a helmet as I fear he may hurl something at me,” said Ms Sule, who is the daughter of NCP chief Sharad Pawar.

Calling Mr Fadnavis a chidka bibba — a term used in Marathi to describe a sulking person — the Baramati MP said, adding that she had seen many chief ministers before, but none like him. “He is almost the same age as me; however, the post of the chief minister, that too of the state of Maharashtra, has a lot of prestige. Hence, he should respect the post,” she said.

Instead of asking ‘mukhya mantri ko gussa kyo aata hai’ (Why does the CM get angry ) it should be said ‘inko gussa hi aata hai,’ (He is always angry) she said. Ms Sule also asked journalists present at the occasion to convey her message to the chief minister.

It is not the first time the NCP leader has slammed the CM saying he gets easily “irritated”. In April this year, while on a tour of drought-hit areas at Osmanabad, she had said that she had not seen a chief minister such as Fadnavis who got “so irritated so easily”.

“The CM should maintain a balance while making speeches. Till now, all the chief ministers of Maharashtra have followed this rule. However Mr Fadnavis is an exception to this rule,” she had said.

The Asian Age tried to contact Vijaya Rahatkar, a BJP leader and head of state women's commission, for her comments on the issue. But she remained unavailable.