'Even children don't fight like this': Devendra Fadnavis on clash in Maharashtra assembly lobby

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said the clash between supporters of two MLAs of rival parties in state assembly lobby marred the good work done by the Mahayuti government during the monsoon session of the legislature.

Talking to reporters after both houses of the legislature were prorogued in the evening, he said there was tension between the two MLAs -- Gopichand Padalkar of the BJP and Jitendra Awhad of the NCP (SP) -- for the last few days and it flared up on the penultimate day of the monsoon session.

Supporters of Awhad and Padalkar, a party colleague of Fadnavis, clashed in the legislature complex in south Mumbai on Thursday when the house was in session.

Shocking videos of the two groups pummelling each other and having to be dragged back by security personnel were telecast by news channels and went viral on social media, causing an embarrassment to the government and raising questions about the safety of legislators on the Vidhan Bhavan premises.

Asked about the ugly incident at the press conference, Fadnavis remarked, "Even children don't fight like this. Both were provoking each other."