Union minister Narayan Rane, who was arrested on Tuesday afternoon over his remark about slapping Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, clarified that he did not say he would slap the chief minister.
Times Now reported that the minister said he meant if he was there when the chief minister was making the statement in which he said about not knowing the year of India's independence, he would have slapped him.
“I did not say I will slap him. I had commented on his (CM) not knowing the exact years of India’s Independence. I had said that if I was there, I would have slapped him,” Times Now quoted the Union minister as saying.
Rane further said Thackeray "will do what he wants to, I will do what I want to."
The minister said he was having lunch when he was arrested and added that he felt that his life was under threat from police.
According to India Today, Rane said the Maharashtra government is scared of him and that is the reason he was arrested. Claiming that he did not say anything wrong, the Union minister clarified that he said if he had been there when the chief minister was making the statement, he would have slapped him (CM.)
He sought to know why Uddhav Thackeray's son Aaditya Thackeray, who was involved in the death cases of Sushant Singh Rajput and Disha Salian, was not arrested.
Rane was taken into custody at Galavali in Ratnagiri district during his `Jan Ashirwad Yatra', and was taken to Sangameshwar police station.
The Union minister had approached the Bombay High Court seeking quashing of the multiple FIRs filed against him. He had also sought an interim order granting him protection from arrest or any coercive action. The bench, however, refused to hear it and said mentioning (of the petition) was not allowed and asked the lawyer to follow the procedure.