Maharashtra Congress Chief Draws Flak For Making Karyakarta Wash His Feet

Maharashtra state unit chief of the Indian National Congress (INC) Nana Patole is facing strong criticism from all sections after visuals of the leader making a party volunteer wash his feet emerged on June 18.

According to reports, the incident occured at Wadegaon village in Vidarbha region's Akola District where Congress leader Patole, a Legislator from the Sakoli state assembly constituency, had come to offer prayers at a religious event along with his associates.

In the visuals which are now widely circulating on social media, a party volunteer is seen pouring water on Patole’s feet which had reportedly caught wet muck while walking back to his car. The volunteer is seen cleaning the Congress leader's feet with his own hands.

Later in the same visuals, Patole is also seen offering a water bottle to the volunteer to pour more water on his feet.

The incident caught wide attention after the Maharashtra unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) posted visuals of the same on its social media handles on X and Instagram.

The saffron party leaders have criticised Patole, calling his act of making a fellow human-being wash his feet reeking of the saranjami or the feudal supremacist attitude of the medieval past. The feudal attitude charge being highlighted more so since Patole hails from the state's socio-politically as well as numerically dominant Maratha-Kunbi caste.

In his defence, Patole in a press conference held late afternoon has denied having compelled the unknown party volunteer seen in the visuals to wash his feet.

"Does Nana Patole think of himself as god? If the volunteer had come to wash his feet on his own will as Nana says, wasn't it the leader's responsibility to stop him from doing it? Maybe the Congress chief is yet to get over the pride of his party having won the highest number of Lok Sabha seat in the state," Keshav Upadhye, BJP Spokesperson said in a post on social media networking site X.