The Maha Sangram
By Venkatesh Raghavan
Mumbai: Union Minister Narayan Rane was out on bail post the midnight hour, after delivering his controversial “I would have slapped Uddhav had I been there” comment at a public gathering as part of the Jan Aashirwad Yatra. The union minister who had recently assumed charge of the MSME portfolio in the cabinet made the “slap” remark while reacting to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray being unsure of the year in which India obtained independence and seeking help from people seated on the dais while addressing a formal gathering.
The remark having generated furore in the Sena camp had the Sainiks pressing for his immediate arrest and the magistrate’s court at Mahad, though deeming it fit for a case of arrest, criticized the police force for not following proper procedure. In addition, the court observed that the incident does not merit police custody and it is a clear case for direct judicial custody.
Rane’s bail was granted against a cash deposit of INR 15,000 and the Union Minister was also asked to report to the Mahad Police station on August 30 and subsequently on September 13. Having failed to get a hearing on his petition at the Bombay High Court on Tuesday owing to technical reasons, counsel for Rane sought the quashing of all the FIRs filed against him on this count. The government lawyers, scaling down from their earlier aggressive posturing, informed the Bombay High Court that they will not seek the arrest of the Union Minister.
Political observers attributed the government lowering its aggressive posturing to a flurry of demands from the BJP camp about how Uddhav Thackeray, way back in 2018, had made similar remarks about Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, expressing his desire to physically assault the latter. The BJP camp further sought Chief Minister Uddhav’s arrest over this incident. Meanwhile, leaders of other political parties have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sack Rane from his cabinet post over such crass speech, citing that it sought to insult the chair of the Chief Minister and was also an act of humiliation on Maharashtra state.
The High Court has posted the next hearing over Rane’s public remarks on September 17. Rane is expected to resume his Jan Aashirwad Yatra on Friday August 27 at Sindhudurg. While Rane flayed the Maharashtra government for gross misuse of the police force and suppression of human rights, Rane’s counsel at the magistrate’s court complained that the union minister who was suffering from high pressure and high sugar levels was ill-treated and not even permitted to have his meals in proper intervals.
