Two BJP lawmakers from Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday engaged in a physical fight with each other over the placement of names on a foundation stone of a project.
BJP MP from Sant Kabir Nagar Sharad Tripathi and BJP MLA Rakesh Singh Baghel from the same assembly constituency initially argued with each other over the matter while the rest of the members present tried to pacify both of them.
However, as the argument escalated, Tripathi removed one of his shoes and started thrashing Singh with it repeatedly.
In return, Singh reached to Tripathi and landed a few blows on him even as others tried to get hold of both the lawmakers.
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As the fight intensified, a policeman present at the meeting jumped in between the to feuding colleagues and tried to take them away from each other.
Soon, other police personnel jumped into the scene and tried got hold of the Tripathi and Singh, ending the fight.
The incident took place during a meeting of the District Action Plan Committee at the Collectorate where various representatives and officials were present.
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."
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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.
"The meeting was underway when the brawl broke out between the BJP MP and MLA over some issue related to PWD. We could not even complete the meeting. This is highly condemnable. We were trying to discuss things about development, members and officers were also present," said an eye witness added.
(with inputs from agencies)
