Sena, BJP at it again after Narayan Rane's arrest for 'slap Uddhav' remarks

Union Minister Narayan Rane has been arrested for his comment on slapping Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. Reports say a police team rushed to Sangameshwar to arrest the minister.

The arrest came after the Bombay High Court rejected a petition, seeking cancellation of the FIR against Rane.

Rane was taken into custody by the police in coastal Ratnagiri district, where he is travelling as part of the Jan Ashirwad Yatra, an official said. Rane was taken to the Sangameshwar police station after being taken into custody, the official said. There were reports that the BJP leader complained of high blood pressure and sugar levels and a doctor was called to examine him.

Rane, who was recently inducted into the Union cabinet, has sparked a row over his remarks about slapping Chief Minister and Shiv Sena president 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 adjoining Raigad district on Monday.

Rane on Tuesday defended his remarks against Thackeray, saying he has not committed any crime by making them.

Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil distanced himself from Rane’s remarks. “I am not defending Rane’s comments, but I will also not express regret,” Patil said. Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis said the BJP does not support Rane’s comments, but the “party stands behind him 100 per cent”.

Alleging that the state police force was being used as a tool for “vendetta politics”, the former chief minister said there should be law and order and “not Taliban-like governance”.
Union minister Ramdas Athawale said Rane did not intend to insult Thackeray and will clarify his statement.

“Rane only meant that Thackeray is not doing anything for the development of Maharashtra and he seldom steps out of his residence Matoshree in Mumbai to understand the problems faced by the people. Rane meant that such a chief minister does not have the right to occupy the chair. This was his feeling,” he said.

Shiv Sena MP Vinayak Raut wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanding the sacking of Rane over his remarks against the Maharashtra chief minister. Raut said it was beyond his comprehension what message Rane would give to society when he himself was using such language.

“It is also an insult to the prime minister of this country, Raut said in the letter.
Raut said Rane should resign from the Modi ministry.

As per an NDTV report, Rane is the first central minister to be arrested in 20 years.

Meanwhile, members of the Shiv Sena Youth wing and BJP clashed near Union minister Narayan Rane’s house in Mumbai on Tuesday (August 24). Stones were pelted from both sides, following which police used cane-charge to disperse the agitators.

The Shiv Sena workers sat on agitation on the Juhu Tara Road in Santacruz (West) near Rane’s residence while activists from both sides shouted slogans against each other.

Following the incident, the road was blocked from two sides, disrupting traffic in the area.
Additional police force too was deployed in the area.

The clash took place during a protest organised by activists of the Yuva Sena (Shiv Sena’s youth wing) against Union minister Rane.

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BJP workers had gathered outside Rane’s residence in the morning in support of their party leader, while Shiv Sena activists, including women, carrying placards and shouting slogans against Rane, had assembled outside an office of the Yuva Sena, located nearby in Juhu.
Heavy police security was deployed outside Rane’s residence.

According to police, Shiv Sena and BJP supporters also clashed at Chiplun in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri district.

Besides, stones were hurled at the BJPs office in Nashik city, while Shiv Sena workers held agitations in Nagpur.

Nashik Police Commissioner Deepak Pandey on Tuesday issued orders for the immediate arrest of Rane and a team of the city police left for Chiplun in the Konkan region, where Rane is present now, after a complaint against the Union minister over the remarks.

A case was also registered against Rane in Pune, while the Shiv Sena lodged a complaint against him at a police station in Aurangabad. Activists of the Shiv Sena’s youth wing and the BJP clashed with each other near Union minister Narayan Ranes residence in Mumbai on Tuesday in the wake of his comments against Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, police said.

Rane, 69, who began his political career in the Shiv Sena, joined the Congress later. He quit the Congress in 2017 and founded his own party with his two sons Nilesh and Nitesh. Later, he merged it with the BJP.

(With inputs from agencies)