The arrest
of Union Minister Narayan Rane has caused a political maelstrom whose ripples
have reached from Maharashtra to Delhi. Narayan Rane, India’s MSME minister,
was arrested on Tuesday following his ‘slap Uddhav’ remark. Reacting to Narayan
Rane’s arrest, BJP national president JP Nadda said, “The arrest of Union
Minister Narayan Rane by the Maharashtra Government is a violation of
constitutional values. We will neither be scared nor suppressed by such action.”

“These
people are troubled by the immense support the BJP is getting in the
Jan-Ashirvad Yatra. We will continue to fight democratically. The journey will
continue,” the BJP national president said.

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Maharashtra’s
Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis said that while the BJP does not support
Narayan Rane’s comments, but the “party stands behind him 100 per cent,”
reports NDTV.

The former Maharashtra
chief minister further said that the state police force was being used as a
tool for “vendetta politics” and that there “should be law and order and not
Taliban-like governance”.  

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Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil said, “I don’t support Narayan Rane’s statement. But if he’s arrested or arrest warrant is issued against him for remarks against CM, what’s happening to their leaders who comment against Governor, a constitutional functionary, almost daily”.

Ratnagiri District
Magistrate BN Patil had earlier said that the union minister was detained by
the Ratnagiri police after all legal options were exhausted. Narayan Rane was
arrested after a Ratnagiri sessions court rejected his transit anticipatory
bail application.

The arrest
of a union minister is an extremely rare event and this is the first time in 20
years that a union minister has been arrested in India.

It was
during Narayan Rane’s speech during his Jan-Ashirvad Yatra in Maharashtra’s
Raigad district on Monday that the union minister said, “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”.

Meanwhile,
news agency ANI reported that another case has been registered against Union
Minister Narayan Rane in Naupada, Thane. The Thane Police said that the case
has been registered under Section 500, 505 (2), 153-B(1)(c).