Narayan Rane’s remarks against Uddhav Thackeray sparks row

“It is shameful that the chief minister does not know the year of independence. He leaned back to enquire 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 a controversial remark, Union minister Narayan Rane on Monday said that he wanted to “give a tight slap” to Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray after the latter allegedly forgot the year of independence during his August 15 address to citizens.

Union minister Narayan Rane. (HT file photo)

Rane claimed that Thackeray had to check the year of independence with his aides midway during the speech that day.

“It is shameful that the chief minister does not know the year of independence. He leaned back to enquire about the count of years of independence during his speech. Had I been there, I would have given him a tight slap,” Rane said.

The Union minister was on his ‘Jan Ashirwad Yatra’ in Raigad organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for new ministers in the Narendra Modi Cabinet when he made the remarks.

Reacting to his remarks, Shiv Sena’s Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg MP Vinayak Raut said Rane had lost his mental balance. “In his attempt to woo the party leadership, Rane has been attacking Shiv Sena and its leadership. He has lost his mental balance after his induction in the Union cabinet. Modi should clean up his Cabinet by showing them the door. Rane was inducted in the Cabinet just to attack the Shiv Sena, and while doing his job, he stooped to a new low,” he said.

A bitter critic of the chief minister ever since he was expelled from the Shiv Sena in 2005, Rane exuded confidence that the BJP will wrest power from the Shiv Sena in the civic polls next year.