Newly inducted Union minister Narayan Rane and Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut engaged in a verbal duel on Thursday after Rane took charge of the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) portfolio.
Rane lashed out at Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray for not wishing him, not forgetting to add that NCP chief Sharad Pawar phoned him and wished him success.
In response, Raut was quick to take a dig at the BJP, saying it should thank the Shiv Sena and the NCP for providing it “human resource” to fill cabinet berths in the Narendra Modi-led Central government.
While Raut hoped Rane would take decisions for the country, Shiv Sena MP and former union minister Arvind Sawant was less subtle and reminded Rane that he did not wish Thackeray when he took the oath of Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
Raut also said Rane’s stature is “bigger” than what has been allocated to him. He said, “Rane has been a chief minister and held important portfolios in the past. In the MSME ministry, he has the challenge to revive small and medium industries, which have been battered by the Covid-19 pandemic, and to generate employment.”
Asked if Rane has been inducted into the Union ministry to counter the Shiv Sena in the state’s Konkan region, Raut asked, “Saying so amounts to insulting the cabinet and the Constitution. Do you induct ministers to serve the country or to target political rivals?”
Reacting to Raut’s comment on the allocation of the MSME portfolio to him, Rane said, “No department is big or small. What is important as a minister is how I will perform. When I will give full justice to this department, Raut himself will admit that the department is not just big but also important.”
Raut added that Kapil Patil and Bharti Pawar, the new central Ministers of State (MoS) for Panchayati Raj and Health, respectively, were earlier with the NCP. He said three out of the four Union ministers from Maharashtra sworn in on Wednesday are not from the BJP background. He quipped, “Prime Minister Modi must have seen some spark in them to give them important portfolios. The BJP should thank the Shiv Sena and NCP for providing it with good human resources for induction into the Union ministry.”
