The fight went on for nearly half an hour.

Mumbai:

Two factions of the Congress came to blows during a meeting to discuss the Lok Sabha seats under the Nagpur division. The meeting had been called by Maharashtra Congress president Nanata Patole.

The fight started as Nagpur Congress President Vikas Thackeray and party leader Narendra Jichkar jostled for the mic. Both the leaders wanted to address the crowd. During the event, Mr Patole, leader of the opposition in the Legislative Assembly Vijay Wadettiwar and former MP Vilas Muttemwar were present on the stage.

Sources said that some Congress leaders and workers were also angry over Mr Wadettiwar recent remarks against Rahul Gandhi. The groups started arguing as soon as he got on the stage.

The fight continued for nearly half an hour despite Mr Patole’s calls to maintain calm.

Sources say that the fight was between two warring factions of the Nagpur Congress. While one Mr Muttemwar, the other one backs former ministers Nitin Raut and Satish Chaturvedi.

Earlier this week, there were reports of a rift within the party during the Congress Working Committee Meet over a statement to condemn the Hamas attack on Israel.

The war between Israel and the Hamas – in which over 3,000 people have died so far and more than three lakh displaced – spawned a political row in India after the Congress released a statement expressing the party’s “long-standing support for the rights of the Palestinian people”.

Sources said the Congress’ statement highlights divisions within the party, and that the section on the Israel-Hamas war had not been well-received by all those at the CWC meeting.

The BJP, which has set out its stall in support of Israel, hit out at the communique and accused the opposition party of supporting terrorism and being a “hostage to minority vote bank politics”.