The state of Maharashtra had on Tuesday witnessed its law enforcement agency carving a new history after arresting Union Minister Narayan Rane on the grounds of his remarks against Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. Though his arrest was temporary as he has got bail after eight hours, Rane has permanently got placed in the nation's history by becoming the first Union Minister to get arrested in twenty years. 

Rane, who has been serving as the Union Minister for Micro, Medium, and Small Enterprises in the Modi cabinet, had stirred outrage across Maharashtra over his remarks against the Chief Minister. Responding to Uddhav Thackeray's ignorance of the year when India has got independence, Rane has said that he would have given a tight slap to Thackeray for not knowing the year of independence. His remarks against the Chief Minister had drawn huge attention across the nation and sparked a fresh tussle between the BJP and Shiv Sena.

On Tuesday, Maharashtra had seen several protests against Rane with the cadres of Shiv Sena staging protests against Rane and several FIRs had also been filed against the Union Minister, who also was the former Chief Minister of Maharashtra. A Shiv Sena MP had demanded Prime Minister Modi remove Rane from his cabinet for insulting the Chief Minister. Rane had moved his petition to challenge the FIR and sought anticipatory bail to evade the arrest. However, the court has dismissed Rane's request to hear his plea urgently. 

Following the rejection, the Maharashtra Police had arrested Rane on Tuesday afternoon in the Ratnagiri district and he was handed over to the Mahad police department and was then taken into custody. Rane was produced before a Magistrate on Tuesday night during which his lawyers had argued and won bail for him to avoid getting him under judicial custody. Though he got bail, Rane's arrest was recorded and become the third Union Minister to get arrested in India and first minister in twenty years. 

The first two Union Ministers who got arrested in Indian history were DMK's Murasoli Maran and TR Baalu. Both the DMK leaders were arrested by the Chennai Police in June 2001 along with former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi. At the time of arrest, Murasoli Maran, a three-time Union Minister, was serving as the Union Minister for Industries and Maran was also the maternal nephew of Karunanidhi. TR Baalu, who is currently the DMK's Treasurer, was serving as the Union Minister for Environment and Forests. 

Maran and Baalu were arrested along with Karunanidhi in connection to a Rs 12 crore 'flyover scam'. As India had seen the arrests of two Union Ministers for the first time, and it was broadcasted across the nation and the news agencies had covered Murasoli Maran's hospitalized after suffering injuries during the time of the arrest. During the arrest, TR Baalu had said that the police didn't care to produce the arrest warrant despite being the Union Minister and claimed that the police had assaulted him. It must be noted that the BJP had also expressed shock over the manner where the then DMK President Karunanidhi, Union Ministers TR Baalu and Murasoli Maran were arrested by the police.