Not unparliamentary word: Narayan Rane on son Nitesh Rane 'meowing' Aaditya Thackeray

Union minister Narayan Rane defended his son and said he did not do anything wrong and did not refer to anyone in particular, commenting on the incident of Nitesh Rane ‘meowing’ Aaditya Thackeray.

Union Rane on Tuesday commented about the row over his son Nitesh Rane meowing at Maharashtra minister Asditya Thackeray at the state assembly, the video of which has fone viral. The minister said his son did not do anything wrong, did not utter any unparliamentary word and the episode took place outside te House. Nitesh did not refer to anyone in particular, Narayan Rane said. The incident took place last week for which the Sena members have been seeking suspension of Nitesh Rane.

The video of BJP MLAs, led by Nitesh Rane, meowing when Aaditya Thackeray entered the Assembly last week has gone viral. 

Here is what happened:

Last week, Nitesh Rane was sitting in the Vidhan Bhavan premises when Aaditya Thackeray was going inside the building. Nitesh Rane made 'meow' sound looking in the direction of Thackeray. Shiv Sena members demanded Nitesh Rane's suspension over the incident. "Aaditya Thackeray, being a dignified man, walked away ignoring Nitesh Rane. We will not tolerate the insult of our leader," Shiv Sena MLA Suhas Kande said.

Opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis said in the Assembly that Nitesh Rane will be reprimanded for his comments. But suspending a member for an incident that happened outside the house is not right. BJP leader Chandrakant Patil too wondered why the incident that took place outside the Assembly was being discussed in the Assembly. "Did Nitesh Rane take any name?" Patil said.

On Tuesday, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said MLAs should maintain decorum and follow parliamentary protocols in the Assembly and Vidhan Bhavan premises. "We don't represent animals. Making fun of others and making sounds of animals is betrayal of the people's trust in you," Pawar said, referring to the 'meow' incident.

Nitesh Rane has come under fire in an attempt to murder case. On December 18, Santosh Parab, a Sena functionary from Kankavli in Sindhudurg was attacked. Parab is a close associate of Sindhudurg District Cooperative Bank chairman Satish Sawant, who was defeated by Nitesh Rane in the 2019 assembly polls on the Kankavali seat. The district bank's election is slated for December 30. "Nitesh is being falsely implicated in a case. (IPC) Section 307 (attempt to murder) has been invoked in a case where the complainant had bruises. Nitesh was not there when the incident occurred,” Narayan Rane said.