'Balloon with holes, croaking frog': Shiv Sena makes scathing attack on Narayan Rane in 'slap Uddhav' case

The extremely harsh comments from Uddhav Thackeray’s party came hours after Narayan Rane was granted bail by the Raigad court after being arrested for his objectionable remarks on the Chief Minister.

MUMBAI: Maharashtra’s ruling party Shiv Sena has made a scathing attack on Union Minister Narayan Rane for his ‘slap Uddhav’ remark, describing the BJP leader as a ‘balloon with holes’ and compared him with a frog.

In a strongly worded editorial in its mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, the party slammed the firebrand Maharashtra BJP leader for his “gangster-like acts.'' 

The Uddhav Thackeray-led party wrote in Saamana, “Narayan Rane was never a great or conscious person. He earned his reputation while in Shiv Sena. After Rane quit the party, Shiv Sena defeated him four times in the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls. Hence, if one has to describe Rane, then he should be called a ''perforated balloon''. No matter how much air is filled in this balloon, it will never go up.’’

The Sena editorial went on to say, “But BJP has decided to inflate this perforated balloon. Some people also liken Rane to a ''frog that croaks.'' Who is he? He has himself declared that he is ‘not a normal person'. Then, the BJP has to check if it’s a bunch of abnormal people.''

''In PM Modi's cabinet, Narayan Rane is the Minister of Small Scale Industries. The Prime Minister considers himself a very 'normal' person. He calls himself a principal servant of the country. This is his humility. But Rane says, 'I am not normal. Possibly that's why he is above the law and feels that he has not done any crime. Rane was never a cultured man and that's why he is behaving like a Chhapri gangster,’’ the Saamana editorial said.

The harsh comments from Uddhav Thackeray’s party came hours after Rane was granted bail by the Raigad court after being arrested for his objectionable remarks on the Chief Minister.  

At his 'Jan Ashirwad Yatra' in Raigad on Monday, Rane had created a controversy by saying that he would have given a tight slap to Uddhav for forgetting the year of India’s Independence Day.

“It is a shame CM Uddhav Thackeray does not know the year of India’s Independence Day. During his address, CM leaned to his side to enquire about the year of Independence Day. Had I been there, I would have given him a tight slap," Rane had said.

The comments evoked a sharp response with Shiv Sena and its allies holding protests across the state. It also led to two FIRs and three complaints against the minister in three different cities.