Union Minister Narayan Rane was on Monday was granted bail by a local court in Maharashtra after the state Police arrested him for threatening to slap Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. Multiple FIRs were filed against Rane in Maharashtra prompting the Pune Police to dispatch a team for Chiplun in Ratnagiri as part of the investigation.
Rane had made an objectionable speech targeting Thackeray during his Jan Ashirwad Yatra on Tuesday. “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 was quoted as saying.
According to news agency ANI, an FIR was registered against Rane at Chaturshringi Police Station of Pune city, following a complaint by the Yuva Sena, the youth wing of the Shiv Sena. Rane has been booked under sections 153 and 505 of the Indian Penal Code.
Reacting to the FIRs being filed against him, Rane said, “I’ve no info that an FIR has been registered against me. I am not a common man. I have not committed any crime. Is it not a crime if someone doesn’t know about 15th August? I had said that I would have slapped – these were the words & it’s not a crime.”
I’ve no info that an FIR has been registered against me. I am not a common man. I have not committed any crime. Is it not a crime if someone doesn’t know about 15th August? I had said that I would have slapped – these were the words & it’s not a crime: Union Minister Narayan Rane pic.twitter.com/ju8CyDCtNG
— ANI (@ANI) August 24, 2021
Fearing Rane’s arrest, Maharashtra BJP President Chandrakant Patil had said that the union minister should not be arrested. “They can give notice or warn that the ministers should not speak like this. But there should not be an arrest,” New Indian Express quoted Patil as saying.
Rane had approached the Bombay High Court seeking anticipatory bail, but had to face disappointment as the Bench comprising Justices SS Shinde and NJ Jamadar refused to entertain his petition. According to Livelaw, a local court at Mahad, Maharashtra is currently hearing Rane‘s remand.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena supporters have put up posters calling Rane a ‘hen thief.’
