Union minister Narayan Rane on Wednesday alleged that Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray had attempted to give contracts to have him killed. The BJP MP also said that Thackeray, who was the Maharashtra chief minister from November 2019 to June 2022, engaged corruption while procuring medicines during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rane stated that he received calls from those who were given the contracts, warning him of the situation. He alleged that Thackeray had attempted to offer "supari" (contracts) to multiple individuals to kill him, but no one was successful. Rane said that some of these individuals had even warned him that they were being approached for such contracts.
Rane, a former Shiv Sainik, attacked Thackeray after the latter called Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, a "worthless" CM. Thackeray had called Fadnavis a "worthless" home minister, and accused him of inaction when a woman worker from the Thackeray-led faction was allegedly attacked by Shiv Sena activists led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Fadnavis on Tuesday responded by saying that he could also use the same language, but chose not to, and criticized Thackeray for compromising his ideology to retain power. He also described Thackeray as a "weak" CM, who could not make two jailed ministers in his Cabinet resign. This was apparently a reference to Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik. Fadnavis further accused Thackeray of shielding Sachin Vaze, a cop dismissed on allegations of extortion.
Thackeray had become chief minister in November 2019, after the Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress joined hands to form a Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, which collapsed in June 2022 after Eknath Shinde's open rebellion.
Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and dared him and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to fulfil late Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar's dream of "Akhand Bharat".
Addressing the first rally of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Thackeray said, “Savarkar suffered rigorous imprisonment and hardships for the Independence of the country and not to make Modi the prime minister. Will you fulfil Savarkar's dream of 'akhand Bharat'?"
The former chief minister of Maharashtra also slammed PM Modi over the issue of his educational degrees, days after Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was fined Rs 25,000 by the Gujarat high court for seeking details on it.
"Any college will be proud if one of its students has become the prime minister of the country. When I became the chief minister and NCP's Jayant Patil a minister in my government, both of us were felicitated by our alma mater Balmohan Vidyamandir in Mumbai because they felt it was a proud moment for the institution," he said.
“There are many young people with degrees but without jobs... When PM is asked to show his degree, the fine is ₹ 25,000. What is this college which doesn't come out to feel proud of the fact that their college is where the Prime Minister studied?” he asked.