Senior Congress minister Narayan Rane’s son Nitesh on Saturday responded to criticism over his tweet on Gujarati people made on mirco-blogging site Twitter recently.
On July 23, Nitesh had said that Gujaratis, who greatly admire the Gujarat chief minister, were free to go back to their home state.
Clarifying his stand, Nitesh said that his Twitter remarks were not meant for the entire Gujarati community, but for the people who think that Mr Modi is great and constantly try to magnify the mediocre work done by him. “I said that Mr Modi and his supporters were exaggerating the Gujarat model of development. I never said that all the Gujarati people should leave Mumbai,” he said.
The junior Rane had previously raked up controversy for a cartoon — showing Mr Modi naked and hiding behind a small placard reading “Hindu Rashtrawadi” — that he posted on July 19. The cartoon further read, “Good the Burqa of development is torn”.
Meanwhile, home minister R.R. Patil said that the government would examine the controversial statement made by Nitesh and take action if he was found guilty. “Every citizen has the right to live anywhere in the country, irrespective of his origins and language. The state will initiate appropriate action if Nitesh is found guilty,” Mr Patil said.