Congress distances itself from Nitesh Rane’s remarks

Mumbai, Nov 6 (IANS) The Maharashtra unit of the Congress on Thursday distanced itself from controversial anti-Gujarati remarks by party legislator Nitesh Rane.

“Whatever statements he may have made are his personal view. We have nothing to do with it,” state Congress chief Manikrao Thakre told media persons.

Thakre’s attention was drawn to Rane’s tweets on Wednesday which smacked of a strong anti-Gujarati tone, but he initially denied knowledge of them.

After persistent queries by the media, Thakre assured he would speak with Rane on the issue.

In a tweet, Nitesh Rane – son of Congress leader and former Shiv Sena chief minister Narayan Rane – said he wanted to take part in the ‘Swachha Bharat Abhiyan’ from Mumbai by clearing the city of all Marathi-hating Gujaratis permanently.

“Wanna take part in Swacha Bharat abhiyan n start from mumbai!! Wanna start cleaning up all the Marathi hating gujjus from there once for all,” his tweet said Wednesday, sparking off a furore.

On Thursday, he attempted to justify his remark by saying: “So much ho ha about my statement on the ‘Marathi-hating Gujjus’ but no one is focusing on the hate statements passed by them almost everyday.”

The social media was abuzz with people sharply criticising and condemning the remarks.