MNS leader Prakash Mahajan accuses Narayan Rane of threatening him

Mumbai, Jun 10 (PTI) Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Prakash Mahajan has alleged that former Union minister Narayan Rane threatened him with violence, after the latter lashed out at Mahajan on social media.

Mahajan, elder brother of late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, said on Monday that if any harm came to him, Rane should be held accountable, and requested Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for police protection.

His statement followed a post by Rane on X in response to Mahajan's criticism of Rane's son and state minister Nitesh Rane.

"If you have come in Ranes' path, I will certainly show you the right path.....Prakash Mahajan, you are speaking more than (what befits) your worth. If you speak again, (I) will make you vomit," Narayan Rane, a BJP leader and former Maharashtra chief minister, said on X earlier on Monday.

"Rane has threatened me. If any harm comes to me, he will be responsible," Mahajan told reporters in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar hours later. He has informed the authorities about the threat, he said, claiming that police, in an attempt to intimidate him, visited his house ahead of his planned protest against Rane.

The spat started after Nitesh Rane, a BJP minister, ridiculed the talk of an alliance between the Shiv Sena (UBT) led by Uddhav Thackeray and his estranged cousin Raj Thackeay's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena ahead of civic polls in the state.

In his reaction, Mahajan accused the Rane family of political opportunism, stating that Narayan Rane lacked ideological integrity as he had been with the Shiv Sena and Congress before joining the BJP.

MNS would not tolerate personal attacks on party chief Raj Thackeray, he said. PTI AW ND KRK