MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: The BJP does not stand by union minister Narayan Rane’s statement but will stand by Rane if the state government misuses the law against him, said BJP leader and ex-CM Devendra Fadnavis. He further said even if Rane is arrested, the Jan Aashirwad Yatra will not stop. BJP president J P Nadda stressed that the party will neither be scared nor suppressed, and Fadnavis alleged the act was driven by vendetta.
Late in the night, state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil said the court’s order granting Rane bail was a rap for the MVA government and that the MVA government had “time and again been pulled up by the courts.”
“The arrest of Union minister Narayan Rane is a violation of constitutional values,” Nadda said. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said some words Rane used to criticise CM Uddhav Thackeray could have been avoided but the arrest was a vindictive act. “Anil Deshmukh is accused of extorting Rs 100 crore. Is he in jail? Police do not even question Anil Deshmukh. Democracy has been put to shame in Maharashtra today. [Shiv Sena MP] Sanjay Raut gave many statements against women but no FIR was registered,” Patra said.
Terming Tuesday’s violence as “state-sponsored,” Fadnavis said there was now no difference between West Bengal and Maharashtra.
Addressing a presser at his official residence in Mumbai as incidents of violence were reported from different parts of the state, Fadnavis said it is natural a person should get angry when the state’s CM forgets it is the ‘Amrut Mahotsav’ of the nation’s Independence. “In the course of his speech he (Rane) probably made this statement, but I don’t think he planned to make this statement. The post of the chief minister is an important one, and therefore, while speaking about the post or the individual on that post, it is necessary to exercise restraint. This anger can be expressed in other ways,” he said.
Criticising the government for the way it was going after Rane, Fadnavis said the action cannot be supported. He said, “If the government behaves in this manner and I want to make it clear that while we do not support the statement, the BJP stands by Rane.”
Attacking police, Fadnavis said they failed to initiate action against Sharjeel Usmani, who came to Maharashtra and heaped abuses on India and Hindus. No FIR was registered against Usmani but police teams from Pune and Nashik are being sent to arrest Rane, he said.
“In legal parlance this (Rane’s statement) is a non-cognisable offence which has been deliberately converted into a cognisable offence. I read the statement of the Nashik police commissioner, does he think he is Chhatrapati? Under which law has he been given powers to do so?” asked Fadnavis. “If cops start taking action to make government happy, it will besmirch Maharashtra’s image. As it is, police are wracked by the ‘vasooli’ scam. This is a police-jeevi Sarkar. It has been rapped by the SC on several occasions, be it Arnab, Kangana and even recent events, yet it continues to use cops to extract revenge,” he said.
