Union Minister for Water Resources Nitin Gadkari speaks with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during the foundation-laying ceremony of projects for Yamuna Rejuvenation and Namami Gange, in New Delhi (PTI) Union Minister for Water Resources Nitin Gadkari speaks with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during the foundation-laying ceremony of projects for Yamuna Rejuvenation and Namami Gange, in New Delhi (PTI)

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was left visibly embarrassed after few people mocked him by coughing during his speech at an event in Delhi on Thursday. As the heckling became louder, BJP leader and Union minister Nitin Gadkari came to Kejriwal’s rescue and asked the people to maintain silence.

The Delhi CM is known to suffer from chronic coughing and also underwent surgery in 2016 to address the issue. Kejriwal requested the crowd to maintain silence but the coughing continued. Nitin Gadkari then intervened and asked the attendees to stop. “Please keep quiet. This is an official event,” he said.

#WATCH BJP workers troll Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, start coughing when he begins to talk. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari intervened and Kejriwal began. pic.twitter.com/tABmZJcreS — ANI (@ANI) December 28, 2018

During the event, the Delhi chief minister also heaped praise on the BJP leader. “Nitin Gadkariji has never made us feel that he belongs to a rival party. I don’t know about others, but the way he has showered love on us, I don’t think the BJP people have got that much love,” Kejriwal said. “The spirit in which we have gathered here together, the spirit in which we have worked with Gadkari sahab, I hope we get to work with the Centre in the same spirit,” he added. Incidentally, a few years ago, Gadkari had slapped a defamation case against Kejriwal, who apologised to him earlier this year.

Also present at the venue were Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Minister of State for Water Resources Satyapal Singh and Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan.

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