In defence, Narayan Rane who is in custody over 'slap Uddhav' remark says latter too had made undignified remarks about Adityanath

Mumbai: A day after being released on bail for using an objectionable language against Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Union Minister Narayan Rane on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on the Shiv Sena, saying it had also made objectionable statements in the past while referring to Mr Thackeray's old dig at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, where the latter allegedly said that the Yogi should be "beaten with chappals".

Mr Rane was arrested on Tuesday over his controversial 'slap Uddhav' remark.

Addressing a press conference, he maintained that he said nothing wrong about the Chief Minister by questioning as to how a person cannot have knowledge about the country.

He further said that he approached the court against the cases filed against him by the Shiv Sena and opined that court's ruling in his favour shows that there is rule of law in the country.

Mr Rane said some people have "taken advantage" of his "good nature" and thanked the party leaders for their support.

"Some people have taken advantage of my good nature, but I won't talk about it now. My yatra [Jan Ashirwad Yatra] was about canvassing about the schemes and steps taken by the (Narendra) Modi government in the last seven years. As per the direction of PM Modi, I started my yatra. There has been a gap of two days, but I will resume my yatra day after tomorrow from Sindhudurg," he added. (UNI)