Mumbai:
Nitesh Rane, a Congressman from Mumbai whose father is a senior minister in the state, ardently defended his sexist and threatening remarks against writer Shobhaa De. "Shobhaa De should be made to just shut up," he told NDTV today. He also theorized, "How else do we show our anger if not in the language of intimidation?"
The 31-year-old is yet to be reprimanded by his party, but he is likely to draw strength from a comment by state Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, who said today: "It's a frivolous comment (by Ms De). We believe in the concept of a unified Maharashtra and such comments are unacceptable.''
Nitesh Rane joined politicians like Raj Thackeray yesterday to excoriate Ms De for what she described as a "satirical tweet." Reacting to the government's decision to carve out Telangana from Andhra Pradesh as a separate state, she tweeted on Wednesday, ""Maharashtra and Mumbai??? Why not? Mumbai has always fancied itself as an independent entity anyway. This game has countless possibilities."
Mr Rane tweeted retributively, "Rather than twitter, Shoba De shud say the same thing on the streets of Mumbai openly after which she won't be left with any 'shoba' forever."
He told NDTV today that he is convinced he "did the right thing." He vowed, "If she continues, so will the personal attack."
Ms De told NDTV on Wednesday night that she has nothing to apologize for. "This lady will not back down," she said.
(Watchwhat she said)