State Congress president Nana Patole has again courted controversy, this time with his purported statement that he “can beat and abuse Modi” and subsequent explanation that the person he talked about was a local goon named Modi. This has evoked an aggressive reaction from the Bharatiya Janata Party’s rank and file that staged protests in various places, demanding arrest of the MLA.

The row erupted after a video went viral on social media wherein Patole made the statement while talking to the villagers in Bhandara during the local election campaign. He issued an explanation soon after the BJP took offence. The BJP demanded that Patole be arrested the way Union minister Narayan Rane was arrested on the charges of using foul language against Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.