More Embarrassment For Fadnavis Govt As Minister Threatens Officer In Viral Video

In the video, which has gone viral, Bordikar is heard threatening to slap the officer and saying he would be suspended immediately if he failed to bring beneficiaries of a government scheme to a public event. Bordikar is the minister of state for public health, water supply and sanitation, energy, women and child development and public works (public undertakings). She is also the guardian minister of the Parbhani district.

At a public event in Bori village in Jintur taluka of Parbhani district, Bordikar is purportedly heard saying, “If you work like this, remember these are Meghana Bordikar’s words. I’ll slap you. Who pays your salary? You’ll be suspended immediately. Don’t try to be anyone’s sycophant. Do you think I don’t know how you operate? If you want to carry loads for a living, quit this job."

Opposition NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar shared the video on social media and slammed the Devendra Fadnavis government. In a post on X, Pawar said, “Who has given her the power to threaten the gram sevak? How can a junior minister, in the middle of a government event, threaten to slap a village officer just for not meeting the target of bringing beneficiaries of the housing scheme?”

Taking a jibe at the CM, Pawar added, “Devendra Fadnavis saheb, what upright ministers you have chosen! Not only is your cabinet losing respect, but also it is bringing disrepute to Maharashtra and that’s the greater concern.”

However, Bordikar clarified on the remarks saying she lost her cool as the women labourers complained regarding the harassment from the gram sevak. She said women labourers had informed her that the gram sevak was not giving them government funds and also demanding bribes from them. “He had not been assisting them in accessing the benefits of the housing scheme, and they were not receiving the instalment payments,” she added.

In Maharashtra, a gram sevak is a government official who plays a crucial role in implementing rural development programs and schemes, serving as a link between the government and the villagers.

Several ministers in the Mahayuti government have triggered controversies over various reasons in the past few months. NCP (Ajit Pawar) minister Manikrao Kokate was stripped of his agriculture portfolio last week for allegedly playing rummy on his cellphone in the House during the recently concluded monsoon session of the State Legislature. Social Justice Minister Sanjay Shirsat from Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) found himself at the centre of a political storm after a video surfaced online allegedly showing him with a bag suspected to be filled with cash beside him. Another Shiv Sena minister Yogesh Kadam faced allegations of running a dance bar in Mumbai with a licence in his mother’s name.