A birthday celebration organised for Haryana Health Minister Aarti Singh Rao was disrupted by a scuffle between a district councillor and the representative of another elected member in Rewari, with a video of the incident going viral on social media on Saturday.
The altercation reportedly took place shortly after a meeting of the Rewari Zila Parishad held at the PWD Rest House on Friday.
The meeting focused on the allocation of development grants worth approximately ₹6.30 crore and was attended by Zila Parishad Chairman Manoj Yadav, Vice-Chairperson Neelam Raipur, her husband Anil Raipur, and several councillors, including Jeevan Hiteshi, Surender Madiya, Maniram and Naresh Yadav.
According to sources, disagreements surfaced during the meeting over the distribution of development funds, leading to heated exchanges between some members and the Zila Parishad chairman. Although a few councillors left after the meeting, they later returned to attend the birthday programme organised for the Health Minister.
The situation escalated moments before the cake-cutting ceremony when Bhupender Khola, representative of the district councillor from Ward No. 7, allegedly moved to the front where Ward No. 3 district councillor Jeevan Hiteshi was standing. The disagreement, reportedly triggered by positioning for a group photograph, soon turned into a physical altercation before other councillors intervened and separated the two.
Reacting to the incident, Jeevan Hiteshi alleged that tensions had begun after he questioned the execution of development works during the Zila Parishad meeting. He claimed that a conspiracy was subsequently hatched against him and alleged that he was pushed during the birthday event after requesting Bhupender Khola to move aside. Hiteshi also maintained that the viral video circulating on social media had been selectively edited and did not present the complete sequence of events.
Rejecting the allegations, Bhupender Khola accused Hiteshi of attempting to disturb the atmosphere during the function. He claimed he was already standing in front for the cake-cutting ceremony and alleged that Hiteshi initiated the pushing and jostling.
No official statement regarding any police complaint or further action had been issued till the filing of this report.