Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Nitesh Rane has stoked a controversy with his provocative speeches in which he allegedly threatened to hit Muslims by "entering mosques", leading police to book him on Monday on charges of hurting religious sentiments.
The Opposition immediately latched on to the speeches of Nitesh Rane, son of former Union minister Narayan Rane, after they went viral and hit out at the ruling BJP, asserting the saffron party wants to engineer riots ahead of the state assembly polls due in November.
On his part, BJP Lok Sabha MP Narayan Rane, himself no stranger to controversies, got into damage control mode and sought to calm frayed nerves, saying he has chided his son over the remarks.
Nitesh Rane addressed two public meetings in Shrirampur and Topkhana areas in Ahmednagar district on Sunday in support of Hindu seer Mahant Ramgiri Maharaj, who was in the news last month for allegedly making derogatory remarks about Islam and Prophet Muhammad.
The MLA warned there would be repercussions if the Maharaj was harmed.
In a viral video, Nitesh Rane can be heard purportedly declaring that if anyone says anything against Ramgiri Maharaj, "We will enter your mosques and hit you one by one. Keep this in mind."
Ramgiri Maharaj has been accused of making derogatory comments about Prophet Mohammad and Islam. Cases have been registered against him at many places in Maharashtra and Muslim leaders have been demanding his arrest.
An official said two FIRs (first information reports) have been registered against Nitesh Rane at Shrirampur and Topkhana police stations in Ahmednagar district, around 260km from Mumbai, for criminal intimidation, intentionally insulting to breach peace and hurting religious sentiments.
The case at Topkhana police station was registered at around 11 pm on Sunday, while another offence was registered at the Shrirampur police station in the early hours of Monday.
Nitesh Rane is not new to controversies. Known for his rustic remarks, he was booked for allegedly making hate speeches in Malvani, Mankhurd and Ghatkopar areas of Mumbai earlier this year.
After the uproar, Nitesh Rane's father Narayan Rane, the MP from Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg in coastal Konkan, said he has reprimanded his son and told him not to drag any religion in the matter.
"There is no need to drag any religion but only those who are guilty of it. Not all Muslims are guilty of this, so don't drag the entire community. I have reprimanded him," Narayan Rane said.
Sharing Nitesh Rane's video, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen spokesperson Waris Pathan, in a post on X, requested Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis, who holds the home portfolio, to arrest the BJP legislator.
"Rane is spreading hatred against Muslims in his entire speech. This is inflammatory speech, hate speech. The BJP is trying to create communal violence in Maharashtra before the state assembly elections," Pathan alleged.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray MP Sanjay Raut also slammed the BJP, his party's former ally.
"You (the BJP) want riots in Maharashtra to win polls. Until they don't engineer riots they cannot face polls," opined the Rajya Sabha member.
Raut's party colleague and Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said politicians are fuelling violence rather than upholding the state's ethos, in an apparent reference to the provocative speeches made by Nitesh Rane.
A delegation of Mumbai Congress leaders led by its president Varsha Gaikwad met police commissioner Vivek Phansalkar and sought action against the Kankavli MLA and other BJP leaders for making provocative statements.
The Congress delegation also demanded that the police security of Nitesh Rane and other BJP leaders be withdrawn.
"Inflammatory statements are made in Maharashtra and everyone knows that they enjoy (political) patronage. They keep saying our boss sits in 'Sagar' bungalow," Gaikwad told reporters.
'Sagar' is the official bungalow of Deputy CM Fadnavis.
"The statement made by Nitesh Rane and (BJP MLC) Prasad Lad have reference to Sagar bungalow and Devendra Fadnavis Ji. It has to be probed whether they have any political patronage," she said.
NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar spokesperson Anish Gawande said Nitesh Rane's statements were not a one-off incident, adding the rot runs deeper.
"Contempt cases should be filed against the Maharashtra government itself for violations of the Tehseen Poonawala judgment on mob lynching and hate speech. Enough is enough," Gawande asserted.
The Shiv Sena-UBT, the Congress and the NCP-SP are constituents of the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi.
The ruling Mahayuti coalition consists of the BJP, the NCP and the Shiv Sena.
