Yuva Sena, the youth wing of Shiv Sena has put up posters of Mr Rane across the state with “Kombdi Chor” written on them.
Workers of Maharashtra’s ruling Shiv Sena and opposition BJP clashed in the state’s capital Mumbai today as Union Minister Narayan Rane’s comment on Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray invited heavy backlash. The BJP leader and the former Chief Minister, Mr Rane, had allegedly said that CM Uddhav Thackeray should have been slapped for his “ignorance of the year of India’s Independence”. Mr Rane now reportedly faces an arrest warrant after an FIR was filed by Shiv Sena Workers in Nashik.
#WATCH | Maharashtra: A clash breaks out amid Shiv Sena workers, BJP workers and Police in Mumbai as Shiv Sena workers marched towards Union Minister Narayan Rane's residence.
Union Minister Narayan Rane had given a statement against CM Uddhav Thackeray yesterday. pic.twitter.com/TezjDGGqAb
— ANI (@ANI) August 24, 2021
Some reports suggest that a police team has left for Chiplun, where Mr Rane is believed to be at present.
The comments by the former Maharashtra CM has irked the Shiv Sena workers, who protested against the BJP leader and were also seen throwing stones at the BJP office in Nashik this morning.
#WATCH | Maharashtra: A group of Shiv Sena workers pelt stones at BJP party office in Nashik & raise slogans against Union Minister Narayan Rane.
The Union Minister and BJP leader had given a statement against CM Uddhav Thackeray yesterday. pic.twitter.com/Y3A3cWZbTa
— ANI (@ANI) August 24, 2021
The Sena believes that Mr Rane, a former member of thier party and an arch-rival of Thackerays since he left Sena, has been looking to create trouble in the state and his remarks are a part of his strategy to cause tension.
On Monday, at a public meeting in Raigad held as part of the nationwide “Jan Ashirwad Yatra” organised by his party BJP for new ministers in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet, Mr Rane claimed that Mr Thackeray forgot the year of independence during his August 15 address and had to check with his aides mid-speech.
“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,” Mr Rane had said.
Yuva Sena, the youth wing of Shiv Sena has put up posters of Mr Rane across the state with “Kombdi Chor” written on them. The slur is a reference to the poultry shop Mr Rane ran in Chembur five decades ago when he was in the Shiv Sena.
Vinayak Raut, an MP from the Shiv Sena, launched a scathing attack on Mr Rane and demanded his resignation from the Union Cabinet.
“To impress BJP leadership, Rane has been attacking Shiv Sena and its leaders. He lost his mental balance after his induction into the Modi-led ministry. Modi should show him the door,” Mr Raut said.
Narayan Rane had started his political career in Mumbai with the Shiv Sena led by Bal Thackeray and got elected to the Maharashtra assembly for the first time in 1990 as a Sena MLA. Later in 1999, Rane became the Chief Minister of the state but his stint did not last long as the Sena-BJP alliance faced defeat in elections. In 2005, Mr Rane quit the Sena following a clash with the Thackerays and Joined the Congress to become a state minister. However, he quit the Congress in 2017, accusing the party of not following through on its promise to make him chief minister. Mr Rane then went on to form his own party with his two sons Nilesh and Nitesh but later merged it with the BJP.
Mr Rane was inducted into the Union Cabinet after the reshuffle in July this year.
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