Union minister Ashwani Chaubey

An argument broke out between Union minister Ashwani Chaubey and a group of people who had gathered outside the guest house where he was staying in Buxar. A video of the incident, which has now gone viral, shows the group protesting against a defunct ultrasound machine at a city hospital.

In the video, the minister, also the MP from Buxar and former Health minister of Bihar, is seen asking protesters to leave and not create a ruckus. As Chaubey started to leave, activists started saying, “The minister had assured that the ultrasound will start in a month, but now its three months. The minister is not only abusing us but also pointing fingers at us.”

As his supporters started chanting slogans in his support, one of the protestors raised a placard in protest.

Later, speaking to ANI, one of the protestors said, “Since last 10 months the ultrasound machine is lying defunct in the district hospital even after assurance from the minister. We came to protest, the minister got angry and started pushing us.”

This isn’t the first time that the minister has faced the ire of the people. Only last month, when he was at a hospital to meet dengue patients in Patna, a man threw ink at him before fleeing.

#WATCH Bihar: Argument breaks out between Union Minister Ashwini Choubey & the people who had gathered outside the guest house he was staying in, to stage a protest against defunct Ultrasound machine at district hospital, in Buxar. pic.twitter.com/d6sLKD1BE2 — ANI (@ANI) November 15, 2019

The incident happened when the minister was returning from a ward in a Patna hospital where he had gone to meet dengue patients after floods in Patna and other parts of Bihar. A man, who was dressed in a blue T-shirt, threw ink at him before escaping the spot.

The security personnel had earlier mistook him to be Chaubey’s supporter who wanted to meet him.

While speaking to the media after the incident, the minister said some people with criminal mindset do such things with an aim to enter politics. Observing that such people must be condemned, Chaubey had pointed out that that the ink was not thrown at him but on the democracy of the country.