On Tuesday, Shiv Sena MP Vinayak Raut sent Prime Minister Narendra Modi a letter demanding that Union minister Narayan Rane be fired for his comments against Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. Raut stated that it was beyond his comprehension what message Rane would send to society if he used such language himself. In the letter, Raut wrote, “It is also an insult to the Prime Minister of this country.”
Rane, a Union minister, has stirred a controversy with his statements about smacking Chief Minister Thackeray for what he claims is the latter’s ignorance of India’s independence year. The chief minister’s ignorance of the year of independence is a disgrace. During his address, he leaned back to inquire about the number of years since independence. I would have given (him) a tight slap if I had been there, Rane stated on Monday during his Jan Ashirwad Yatra in the neighbouring Raigad district.
During his August 15 address to the people of the state, the BJP leader and former Shiv Sena chief minister said Thackeray forgot the year of independence. According to Rane, Thackeray had to check the year of independence with his aides midway through his address that day. In his letter to the PM, Raut mentioned Rane’s remarks, saying, “I feel a person like Rane, who forgets the office he represents, has no right to continue on it.” I respectfully request that you seek his resignation and dismiss him from your cabinet. Raut, who had previously defeated Nilesh Rane, the son of Narayan Rane, in the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha seat, expressed hope that the prime minister would take fast action in the situation.
The Maharashtra unit president of the NCP, Jayant Patil, whose party shares power in the state with the Shiv Sena and Congress as part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) administration, slammed Rane’s words towards the CM. “Union minister Narayan Rane’s language is reprehensible. It also demonstrates the kind of cabinet colleagues Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recruited around him, according to Patil.
According to the NCP leader, no politician has ever used such words before. Workers from the Shiv Sena staged protests around the state in response to Rane’s remarks. Activists from the Sena and the BJP battled over the issue near Rane’s apartment in Mumbai. Patil, the state’s water resources minister, said he didn’t know if Shiv Sena members were solely responsible for the violence in some sections of the state. He stated, “The state home department will have greater knowledge on it.” When asked if such occurrences have lowered the state’s political level, Patil responded, “The standard of politics has not gone down, but some people have fallen low.”
Rane’s words against CM Thackeray, according to Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole, are against the state’s culture. “Previously, we believed that having more ministers (from Maharashtra) in the Union government would be beneficial to the state. However, a comment like this from Narayan Rane is upsetting the state’s environment “Patole said Nanded reporters.
‘We object to his statement,’ says the group “He went on to say that individuals who break the law will face the consequences. Varun Sardesai, the chief of the Shiv Sena’s youth wing, questioned whether senior BJP leaders approved of Rane’s words against Thackeray. “Does this sound like the BJP of (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee or (Lal Krishna) Advani? Sardesai, the cousin of state cabinet minister Aaditya Thackeray, the CM’s son, believes they should come open about it.
The Sena leader further stated that no one was asked to gather outside of Rane’s Mumbai apartment. Hasan Mushrif, a Maharashtra minister and NCP leader, similarly slammed the Union minister’s comments, alleging that the BJP was purposely stirring up a ruckus through leaders like Rane “to destabilise the MVA administration.” He stated, “I do not believe they will succeed.”
