Out on bail, Narayan Rane reminds Uddhav of what he said about Adityanath

The renewed fight between Union Minister Narayan Rane and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is far from over. The BJP leader, who shares a long rivalry with Sena under Thackeray, reminded the Maharashtra CM of his “will hit with slippers” comment about his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath three years ago, to argue that his comment was no different.

The three-year-old comment has become viral on social media with BJP leaders taking potshots at Shiv Sena for Uddhav Thackeray’s “double standards”.

Rane, who was recently inducted into the Union cabinet, had sparked a row when he spoke about slapping Uddhav Thackeray, for what he claimed as the latter’s ignorance of the year of India’s independence.

“It is shameful that the chief minister does not know the year of independence. He leaned back to enquire about the count of years of Independence during his speech. Had I been there, I would have given (him) a tight slap,” Rane said during his Jan Ashirwad Yatra in Raigad district two days back.

Also read: Sena, BJP at it again after Narayan Rane’s arrest for ‘slap Uddhav’ remarks

The BJP leader was arrested from Ratnagiri on Tuesday (August 24) for his “slap remark”. He got bail late on Tuesday evening, after spending nine hours in police custody. After his release on bail, Rane targeted both West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Uddhav Thackeray to say, “We won’t let Maharashtra become West Bengal… Thackeray government is a guest for a few days….Uddhav Thackeray also called Union home minister Amit Shah shameless. He even said he was using unparliamentary words deliberately to describe Shah. What a civilised language.”

On former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis not approving of his latest comments against Uddhav Thackeray, Rane said, “I have not said anything wrong. But if Devendra Fadnavis says it is wrong, then I will accept it, as he is our ‘margdarshak’ (guide).”