Union minister Rane arrested for "Slap Thackeray" remark, gets bail

In Maharashtra, union minister Narain Rane has been arrested over his controversial remarks against Uddhav Thackeray in which he said he would slap the chief minister. Three FIRs were registered in the state - one each in Nashik, Pune and Mahad - against Rane who allegedly talked about slapping Thackeray for forgetting the year of India's independence. Rane, who joined Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet in July as Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, is the first central minister to be arrested in 20 years. He was granted bail hours later after he cited his health and argued that he was arrested without proper notice on "politically motivated" charges.

The Shiv Sena filed cases against Rane over his remarks on Monday at a "Jan Ashirwad Yatra" organised nationwide by the BJP . "It is shameful that the Chief Minister does not know the year of independence. He leaned back to ask about the count of years of independence during his speech. Had I been there, I would have given him a tight slap," Rane said in the public meeting at Raigad. The comments have sparked massive Shiv Sena anger and protests and FIRs were filed in three cities listing non-bailable offences. The Sena alleged that Rane, a former leader of the party, deliberately made the remarks to provoke tension in Maharashtra.  Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai said in a tweet on Tuesday that the arrest of Narayan Rane is a clear example of "an emperor who is drunk with a power mindset & against any law of the land". Annamalai went on to say that Rane's arrest will bring the BJP to power in Maharashtra for "a long time".

The arrest of our cabinet minister Shri @MeNarayanRane by the Shiv Sena govt in Maharashtra is a clear example of an emperor who is drunk with power mindset & against any law of the land.

This is the turning point that will bring @BJP4Maharashtra to power soon & for a long time!

— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) August 24, 2021

BJP national president JP Nadda said in a tweet that the proceedings against Narayan Rane are an attack on democratic values. "We will neither be scared nor bullied by such proceedings." Nadda went on to add that the BJP's Jan Ashirwad Yatra will continue.  BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said on Tuesday that  out of 42 ministers in Maharashtra, there are cases against 27 of them. Anil Deshmukh has been accused of extortion to the tune of 100 crore. Is he in jail? Today, democracy was shamed in Maharashtra. There was no FIR against Sharjeel Imam. Sanjay Raut gave many statements against women but no FIR was lodged against him.

Former Maharashtra chief minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis said the party does not support Rane's comments, but the way he has been targeted, the "it stands behind him 100 per cent".“People who are pointing fingers at Rane should not forget that there have been several instances of Uddhav Thackeray using inflammatory language,” Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil said.