Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Union minister Raosaheb Danve kicked up controversy quite literally by hitting a person with his leg when the latter tried to get into the frame while he was being photographed.
The man, however, later claimed that he was a friend of Danve and he was only trying to fix his shirt.
The senior BJP leader has been campaigning across Maharashtra for the November 20 assembly elections.
A video of the alleged incident that occurred at Bhokardan in Jalna district on Monday went viral on social media.
Danve met Shiv Sena leader and former minister Arjun Khotkar and was being felicitated and photographed when a man tried to get in the frame.
The video shows a person coming into the frame and Danve kicking him with his right leg, asking him to move aside.
Talking to reporters, the man, who identified himself as Shaikh, claimed to be a friend of the senior BJP leader.
"I am a close friend of Raosaheb Danve, and we have a friendship of 30 years. The news that has gone viral is wrong. I was only trying to fix Danve's shirt," he said.
Reacting to the incident, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said, "Raosaheb should have been in football. BJP workers have got nothing in the past two years. So they should reconsider if they want to vote for the BJP again."
