Pune/Mumbai: BJP MP Narayan Rane may be arrested over his remarks against Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, as per reports.
Some reports said a team of Nashik police had left for Chiplun in the Konkan region, where Rane is present, after a complaint was lodged against the Union minister over the remarks. However, there is no word yet from the police on these developments.
Rane has sparked off a row with his remarks about slapping 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.
The BJP leader and former Shiv Sena chief minister claimed Thackeray forgot the year of Independence during his August 15 address to the people of the state. Thackeray had to check the year of Independence with his aides midway during the speech, Rane claimed.
Rane's remarks drew sharp reactions from the Shiv Sena, whose workers put posters in Mumbai and other places, calling him a ‘kombdi chor' (chicken stealer), a reference to the poultry shop he ran in Chembur five decades ago, during his initial stint with the Bal Thackeray-led party.
Shiv Sena's Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg MP Vinayak Raut said Rane had lost his mental balance.
“To impress the BJP leadership, Rane has been targeting the Shiv Sena and its leaders. He lost his mental balance after his induction into the Modi-led ministry. Modi should show him the door,” Raut said. (UNI)
