Maharashtra minister Shambhuraj Desai on Wednesday asked Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, who was released from a Mumbai jail on bail in a money laundering case last month, to "control" his tongue if he wanted to avoid "taking rest" again.
Mr Desai, who is the state Excise Minister, was targeting Mr Raut for his criticism of the Eknath Shinde-led government over the simmering border dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Mr Raut walked out of Mumbai's Arthur Road jail on November 9 after a special court granted him bail in a money laundering case. He was arrested on August 1 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the case related to a housing project in suburban Goregaon.
Mr Raut has been targeting the Shinde government over the Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute over the past few days. On Wednesday, he demanded that Belagavi in Karnataka be declared a Union Territory and claimed incidents of violence in Belagavi cannot take place without "Delhi's support". Hitting out at Maharashtra Chief Minister Shinde, saying the state government appeared weak and helpless to counter such attacks, Mr Raut also alleged that attempts were being made to make Maharashtra unstable.
Talking to reporters here, Mr Desai, one of the two ministers from Maharashtra who was deputed to visit Belagavi amid the border row, slammed Mr Raut over the issue.
"It looks like the outside atmosphere doesn't suit you (Raut). You should control your tongue to avoid going back to rest," he said, adding that Mr Raut came out (of jail) after "resting" for three-and-a-half months.
The decades-old raging dispute between the two states spilled onto roads on Tuesday with stones being thrown at vehicles entering Karnataka from the Maharashtra side near a toll booth at Hirebaugwadi in Belagavi district. Similarly, at least four buses from Karnataka were defaced in Pune district allegedly by activists of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) faction and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).
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