Union minister Narayan Rane concludes yatra in Maharashtra

The face-off between Union micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) minister Narayan Rane and Shiv Sena continued on Sunday as his 10-day ‘Jan Ashirwad Yatra’ culminated at his home turf Sindhudurg. Rane targeted Sena leader Sanjay Raut, saying if he doesn’t stop personal attacks through Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, he will let out secrets from his Marathi publication ‘Prahaar’. Rane also dismissed speculation that his mellow tone against the Sena chief was due to a meeting between chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis last Friday and said that getting soft or mellowing attacks is not in his DNA.

On the other hand, Raut targeted the Centre over Rane’s ‘slap’ remark against Thackeray asking why Delhi was backing the ones who disrespect Maharashtra. The statement came in Raut’s weekly column ‘RokThok’, saying the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) leadership, including Amit Shah, JP Nadda, and Maharashtra leaders Fadnavis and state unit chief Chandrakant Patil, called action against Rane as “unconstitutional”. Raut in said that Rane’s sons were responsible for their father’s downfall. “Mr Rane’s sons have damaged his political career the most. Criticism and accepting it is a culture in parliamentary democracy, but Rane’s sons have brought up parents of leaders from Thackerays to Pawars to Rahul Gandhi and even Modi. This has damaged Rane the most. Soon such criticism will come from Fadnavis and Chandrakant Patil.”

“An editorial is being printed against my sons. But he (Raut) should first understand what his children are doing. Both [my sons] are smart and educated...”

Rane during his speeches in Kankavli and Dodamarg in Sindhudurg targeted Raut and said that he is leading the Sena towards a decline. “When he comes before me in Rajya Sabha, he says namaskar, and says, ‘I am with you’. He tells Uddhav Thackeray that he is a true Sainik then he quietly sneaks to Sharad Pawar’s office and tells him ‘I am with you’. Who are you with? He is a daily wager, a temporary employee,” Rane said.

The union minister said that he received a rousing welcome wherever he went in his tour of Palghar, Mumbai, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts and said that Sena’s presence was hardly visible in Konkan. Referring to his arrest and subsequent bail after the ‘slap’ remark against Thackeray on Tuesday, Rane said that there was a “bad omen” when a “cat crossed his path”, the tour was a success.

Rane also attacked deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar saying he was “ignorant”. Responding to Rane’s remark, Pawar told reporters, “He is a union minister, he must focus on his job, while we in the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) are doing our work.”

Raut also wrote in the party mouthpiece that Rane has been speaking in unparliamentary language against Sena chief and its leaders for over 20 years now. Raut said that Rane was arrested because he threatened Thackeray. Justifying the action taken by the Maharashtra government, he added that many people have been arrested for threatening Prime Minister Modi, Yogi Adityanath, and Devendra Fadnavis.

As a policy of Maharashtra BJP, its spokesperson said they do not comment on Saamana editorial.