Cong MLA Nitesh Rane Booked for Throwing Mud on Engineer, Tying Him Up as 'Punishment' for Bad Roads

Mumbai: Two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi pulled up BJP MLA Akash Vijayvargiya for assaulting a civic official with a bat during a demolition drive in Indore, another video surfaced on Thursday, showing Congress MLA Nitesh Narayan Rane and his supporters throwing mud on an engineer near Mumbai-Goa highway.

He was later booked for the attack. Two members of the Maharashtra Swabhiman Party have also been arrested in connection with the case.

Nitesh Rane is the son of veteran Congress leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Narayan Rane.

The video, posted by ANI on Thursday, showed Rane and his supporters dumping buckets of mud on engineer Prakash Shedekar at a bridge near Mumbai-Goa highway in Kankavali, when they were inspecting the potholes-ridden highway. The engineer was later tied to the bridge over the river, ANI said.

Angry over the non-construction on a service road in the area, a visibly angry Rane heckles and shouts at the engineer and says, “Do you even know the condition of people? You are only in a hurry to construct pillars. Who will construct the gutters? How will the water flow? How can you be so careless? Do you even know how people travel on this road?"

“Look at my condition, what must be the condition of people? Come with me I will show you what people go through. When will you construct the service road? Has anyone seen the construction of service road? When you can construct it in Goa, why not here? What bad has Kankavli done to you?" Rane says in the video.

He first threatens the engineer, saying, “Shall I show you how we get dirty in the mud? You are wearing clean clothes, you came in an air conditioned car and we are here in dirt."

He then points at the mud and says to his supporters, “Throw this on his head.. now do you understand… Now I will show you.. I will take you in my car and throw you in the mud."

The video also shows the gathered crowd tying the engineer to the bridge.

Reacting to the incident, Narayan Rane said, "I have told him that it is wrong. We will apologise to the government official."

Veteran BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya's son Akash Vijayvargiya had also courted controversy last week after he was caught on video assaulting a civic body official. He was arrested and later released on bail.

At the BJP’s parliamentary party meeting in Delhi on Tuesday, PM Modi had made it clear that Akash Vijayvargiya's conduct was unacceptable and action had to be taken. "If we have to lose an MLA, so be it. We have to set an example to prevent a repeat," Modi reportedly told lawmakers.

He said the party did not need 'netas' (lawmakers) who spoil its image and said action should be taken against those indulging in such behaviour. “Beta kisi ka bhi ho, manmaani nahi chalegi (it might be anyone's son, bad behaviour will not be tolerated)," he said.