Rane lashes out at Thackeray as 'maha-fadtus' for criticising Fadnavis

MUMBAI: Union MSME Minister Narayan Rane lambasted his bete-noire, Shiv Sena (UBT) President and ex-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray for his comments against Bharatiya Janata Party's Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, here on Wednesday.

Labelling Thackeray in several terms, Rane - mostly referring to him as 'Tu' - advised him to bide his time at home in 'Matoshri' as he had lost his CM's post which would never return.

"You (tu) are a 'maha-fadtus' (most useless), 'cranky', lair, inept, traitor, fraud, a blot, without knowledge of any topic, only surviving because of the 'Thackeray' surname... You did nothing as CM for two-and-half years... Who are you to criticise our Fadnavis," Rane thundered.

Raking up the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput and his associate Disha Salian, Rane again questioned the alleged role of the Thackerays in the two cases.

Rane warned that if Thackeray dared to attack Fadnavis, then he would face the consequences at any public rally he would address in the future.

"What does he know of the state, farmers, workers, state or nation... All his speeches are the same, full of abuses, due to the frustration of losing his CM's post... What is his locus-standi to criticise Fadnavis, Union Home Minister Amit Shah or Prime Minister Narendra Modi?" said an irate Rane.

He said that all of Thackeray's tall claims of sweeping the next Lok Sabha elections in the state will prove hollow and predicted that the BJP will cross 400 seats in the country next year, as the economy is doing very well under Modi.

"You see what Fadnavis did as CM in five years... What do you have to show for your 30 months as CM... Is your tenure working from home even comparable... How dare you call him a 'fadtus'," demanded Rane.

The Union Minister also took umbrage at the language used by the newspapers, "Saamana" Group and said he would move the courts against them to stop the publications.

Referring to the Monday night incident of a Sena (UBT) activist, Roshani Shinde-Pawar, Rane claimed that she was not injured, nor pregnant and questioned her credentials to criticise personalities Modi, Shah, Fadnavis or Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

"Who is she, what is her standing to criticise such big people... If I was there, I would have warned her against doing this... But, Thackeray went there with his wife and son..." Rane said.