In a dramatic turn of events, Union Minister Narayan Rane was arrested at around 2.25pm on Tuesday after triggering a row over his remarks about slapping Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. Later in the evening he was granted bail by a magistrate court in Mahad.
At a “Jan Ashirwad Yatra” organised nationwide by the BJP on Monday, Rane claimed that Thackeray forgot the year of Independence during his 15 August address and had to check with his aide 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,” Rane said in the public meeting.
Rane is the first Central minister to be arrested in 20 years. His arrest has become the new flashpoint between allies-turned-rivals Sena and BJP.
The Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises was arrested after a sessions court in Ratnagiri rejected his transit anticipatory bail application. District Magistrate B.N. Patil said that Rane was detained by the Ratnagiri police after all legal options were exhausted while the arrest was made by the Nashik city police team. As many as four FIRs were registered against Rane—one FIR was registered in Pune, one in Nashik, while two were lodged in Mahad area of Raigad district for his remarks.
Rane’s lawyers moved the Bombay High Court seeking quashing of the FIRs against him. However, a bench of the High Court refused to hear the plea on Tuesday and asked his lawyers to follow due process. The Nashik Police Commissioner Deepak Pandey issued an order asking the DCP Crime to initiate action against Narayan Rane on Tuesday in order to maintain the law and order situation. The order stated that Rane be arrested and produced in court in the case registered against him at the cyber police station in Nashik.
Accordingly, a team, led by Nashik DCP (crime) Sanjay Barkund and comprising police inspector Ananda Wagh and other officers, was formed and it rushed to Chiplun in Ratnagiri to arrest the BJP leader. At first, Rane was made to sit in his own vehicle after being detained by the police. Some of his supporters tried to stop the vehicle, but the police team has started from the spot in Chiplun.
Later, he was taken to Sangameshwar police station in Ratnagiri, after which his medical check-up was done where doctor on Rane’s condition said that the Union Minister is a diabetic and his blood pressure is high, which is why he needs to be admitted to a hospital for ECG. “We also could not check his sugar,” the doctor added. Rane was handed over to Raigad police around 2.45 pm in connection with the FIR registered at Mahad, 160 km from Mumbai. In the evening he was produced before a court at Mahad.
Meanwhile, clashes between BJP and Shiv Sena were seen at different parts of Maharashtra. Effigies of Rane were burnt at Opera House in South Mumbai, posters against Rane were erected at Dadar in Mumbai calling him a “kombdi chor” (chicken stealer), a reference to the poultry shop he ran in Mumbai’s Chembur area five decades ago, during the initial part of his over four-decades-old stint with the Bal Thackeray-led party. Black ink was thrown on his poster at Sangli, while stones were pelted at the BJP office in Nashik, and clashes between BJP and Sena workers erupted at several locations.
BJP chief J.P. Nadda in a tweet said the Maharashtra government’s decision to arrest Rane is against constitutional values and “we won’t be cowed down by such actions”. BJP also released a video that showed Rane holding a half-eaten plate of lunch, while his supporters were seen preventing the police from taking him away. The video also showed his both sons asking cops to wait; they were heard saying, “Sir is eating. One minute. One minute… Don’t touch me.”
Leader of Opposition and former state Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, “Action against Union Minister Narayanrao Rane is absolute vendetta! We strongly condemn this gross misuse of police force and suppression. Sharjeel Usmani is free & Narayan Rane arrested! We don’t support what he said about Thackeray, but what was done and police force used was not correct.”