The age-old political rivalry between Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and State Cooperative Minister Harshawardhan Patil once again came to the fore at Zilla Parishad (ZP) office yesterday after a spat broke out between the NCP and the Congress party workers.

On guard: Police personnel create a buffer zone between the protesting NCP and Congress party workers to prevent untoward incidents outside the Zilla Parsihad office in camp yesterday

Later, the spat took a bitter turn as workers from both the parties resorted to sloganeering and demonstrations against each other.