Union minister Narayan Rane, arrested on Tuesday over his remarks about slapping Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray for what he called Mr Thackeray's "ignorance of the year India won Independence", has been granted bail by a court in Maharashtra's Mahad.
Mr Rane was taken into custody by police in coastal Ratnagiri district, where he is travelling as part of the Jan Ashirwad Yatra, an official said.
Mr Rane, who joined Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet in July as Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, is the first Union Minister to be arrested in 20 years.
Mr Rane had claimed Mr Thackeray forgot the year of independence during his August 15 address and had to check with his aides mid-speech.
"It is shameful that the Chief Minister does not know the year of independence. He leaned back to ask about the count of years of independence during his speech. Had I been there, I would have given him a tight slap," Mr Rane said in the public meeting at Raigad.
