The Shiv Sena had been irretrievably damaged by its chief spokesperson MP Sanjay Raut, remarked Union Minister Narayan Rane on Sunday as the vicious sabre-rattling between Mr. Rane and the Sena continued unabated after the Minister’s controversial “ would have slapped Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray ” remark.
Speaking in his stronghold Kankavli in the Konkan’s Sindhudurg district on the last day of his eventful ‘Jan Ashirwad Yatra’, Mr. Rane claimed that Mr. Raut’s intemperate remarks in the Sena mouthpiece Saamana had resulted in the “party going to the dogs”.
“Sanjay Raut is responsible for sullying Saamana ’s prestige and the Shiv Sena as a party…If he keeps up this level of personal invective against me, then I will be compelled to offer a similarly sharp response and make revealing disclosures about various Sena leaders [alluding to Maharashtra Minister Anil Parab] through my own newspaper Prahaar ,” warned Mr. Rane, the Union Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
Mr. Rane, an ex-Shiv Sena stalwart who is now the Sena and Chief Minister Thackeray’s bitterest adversary, had stirred the hornet’s nest earlier in the week when he said he would have given Mr. Thackeray “a tight slap” for allegedly forgetting the number of years of India’s Independence during the Chief Minister’s August 15 speech.
A slew of FIRs were lodged against Mr. Rane, who was arrested and later released on bail by a local court in Mahad, following a high-voltage drama that lasted till Tuesday midnight, and which resulted in irate Sena workers pelting stones on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) offices in a number of places in the State while clashing with BJP workers in Mumbai.
The incident has since been followed by a strident slanging match between Mr. Raut and Mr. Rane.
Mr. Raut, who is the executive editor of Saamana , questioned in his weekly column ‘Rokthok’ the support that Central BJP leaders like BJP president J.P. Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah had reportedly extended to Mr. Rane in wake of the latter’s “arrest humiliation”.
“If this is true [Central BJP leaders offering to support Mr. Rane], then it is an insult to Maharashtra’s self-respect and pride. Why does Delhi stand in support of those who insult Maharashtra’s pride and self-respect? A Union Minister talks of slapping the State’s Chief Minister and BJP leaders look around helplessly,” he wrote in his column, while expressing surprise over how the BJP could term Mr. Rane’s arrest as “unconstitutional”.
Mr. Raut accused Mr. Rane and his sons — former MP Nilesh Rane and BJP MLA Nitesh Rane — of consistently using “derogatory and unparliamentary” language against the Sena leadership.
“Nobody has the right to insult the posts of the Prime Minister, the President and the Chief Minister. Mr. Rane is guilty of committing this crime often. If anybody thinks that taking action in this regard is itself a ‘crime’, then it is akin to disparaging the Constitution,” said the Sena MP, alleging that that Mr. Rane’s sons had done most to “damage” the political career of their father.
Mr. Raut went so far as to suggest that Mr. Rane ought to practise yoga as he was “mentally unwell”.
In response, Mr. Rane lashed out at Mr. Raut, remarking that the Sena MP was a “nobody” who deliberately made provocative statements instead of building his party.
“Do not dare talk of my sons…First, let us see how aggressive your employer’s [CM Uddhav Thackeray’s son, Aaditya Thackeray] sons are. And who is Sanjay Raut? He is not even the editor of Saamana . He merely acts out of despair by making such unwarranted statements,” said Mr. Rane.
He further reminded Mr. Raut of the role he [Mr. Rane] had played in nurturing the Sena.
“When [Shiv Sena founder ]Bal Thackeray was in danger from a terrorist attack, [then Chief Minister] Sharad Pawar had urged him to leave ‘Matoshree’ [official residence of the Sena supremo]. Balasaaheb had urged me to follow him in car as we set out for an undisclosed location…at that time, I had kept vigil through several sleepless nights,” Mr. Rane said.
However, he also said that if any leader from Maharashtra, even if he was from the Sena, had any work with the Centre and his Ministry, he would immediately see that it was done.
