Senior Congress legislator and former Minister Naseem Khan found himself in an embarrassing situation on Tuesday, after a video clip showing him being showered with currency notes at a community Ganesh Chaturthi event went viral on social media.
The video clip showed some Ganesh mandal activists showering currency notes on Khan when he entered the venue of a Ganesh festivities event organised by the Bhanushali festival community at Chandivli locality of Andheri (east) in north Mumbai last week.
A few activists standing on either side welcomed the former minister by showering him with new currency. One of the activists was seen holding a wad of new currency notes. The showering of currency notes went on for a few minutes.
Quickly seizing the issue, Maharashtra’s BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari demanded an inquiry into the showering of currency notes on the former Congress minister. “How can anyone throw so much of cash freely on the former Minister?. It is an ugly display of wealth,” Bhandari said, as he rooted for an inquiry into the incident.
Seeking to clarify matters relating to the incident, Khan said: “I had gone to Ganeshostav event organised by the Bhanushali community. Two members of the Ganpati mandal showered currency notes on me. I tried to prevent them but in vain. ...Every community has different traditions and customs. How can I challenge these customs?”
"What was surprising was that even leaders of the BJP and MNS from the Bhanushali community were openly showering cash to welcome the guests," Khan claimed.
On their part, the Mandal functionaries said that the money showered on the minister and other guests would be distributed among poor people. Khan said that the cash thus collected was donated for religious activities like construction or maintenance of cow shelters.