Union Minister Narayan Rane was arrested for remarks against Maharashtra Chief Minister. (File)
Narayan Rane's fresh swipe against Shiv Sena has resulted in West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee getting caught up in the crosshairs with the Union Minister on Friday stating that the "distance between Konkan and Kashmir represents the difference between Banerjee becoming the country's Prime Minister."
Addressing reporters after resuming his ''Jan Ashirwad Yatra'' on Friday, the Union Minister was responding to Sanjay Raut's "West Bengal is the lion of the country" remark stating that the Shiv Sena leader "speaks without any sense."
"Sanjay Raut speaks without any sense. Vinayak and Sanjay Raut will lead to the fall of Shiv Sena... The distance between Konkan and Kashmir represents the difference between Mamata Banerjee and her becoming the PM," he said.
This is not the first time when Mr Rane has taken a jibe at the political situation in West Bengal.
On Wednesday, the Union Minister said that he would not "allow" the West Bengal-like environment to be created in Maharashtra.
To this Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut warned that insults to the state would not be forgiven by the people. Taking a dig at the BJP, Raut said that it had to "run away" from West Bengal following its defeat in the recent assembly polls.
He further said, "West Bengal is the lion of the country. It is the birthplace of revolutionaries. Lal Bal Pal, a prong of this trident is from West Bengal. That one prong has got into you. Don't forget that if you insult a state like this, then the country will never forgive you."
Meanwhile, Mr Rane today attacked Shiv Sena for not working for the Konkan region in the state and said he is not "scared" of any action against him.
"Shiv Sainiks who came in front of my house were welcomed by the police. What has Shiv Sena given to the Konkan region in the last two years? They thought I would be scared if they took action against me. But our journey has been successful," he said.
Mr Rane also asserted that he has done nothing wrong by making the alleged "derogatory remarks" against Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, and said the party is "enjoying the power".
"I have done nothing wrong. They (Shiv Sena) enjoy power, so they arrested me. Maharashtra is number one in COVID. During COVID, they didn''t take any action. Sushant Singh (Rajput) was murdered. Disha Salian was raped and killed, yet the perpetrators roam freely," said Mr Rane.
The Union Minister was arrested in Ratnagiri district after several FIRs were registered against him at many places including Nashik and Pune, based on the complaints filed by Shiv Sena leaders for his remarks against Thackeray.
Mr Rane had on Monday accused Thackeray of ignorance about the year of India's independence at an event and said "I would have given (him) a tight slap."
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)