People approve of the “tits for action” policy

When Virwani began to babble in shock, Thakur gave him an ultimatum. “I want this statement to be withdrawn and you to apologize on all your social media platforms within an hour.”

Virwani obeyed, called himself thoughtless and stupid, and swore that he had not made the statement out of malice. But the leaders of the local convention didn’t stop there. They buttoned Virwani and introduced him to the media to prevent any possibility of the apology being deleted later. Virwani once again told the media how sorry he was that he was stupid to make the statement that he had no political connections and thoughtlessly responded to a question from the host and not of his own accord.

The public reaction would have pleased the congressional leaders. People said they were supportive of the Mumbai congressmen’s response and were impressed with it and expressed hope that the party would remain so aggressive in the future. Many of them felt that enough is enough.

The Shiv Sena, which is known for reacting to the smallest provocation with sticks and stones, has, however, somewhat softened in its connection to Congress within the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. When Union Minister Narayan Rane expressed a desire to beat Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Shiv Sainiks filed a number of FIRs against him. The Union minister was arrested even though the government knew the arrest would not be tenable under the law. But in retaliation, the Shiv Sena-led government added an element of humiliation – Rane had to report to the local police station, which he had run in the past, for a few weeks as a condition for bail.

This was quite a contrast to the UPA government at the center, which had taken no action against the person who had actually beaten then-Union Minister Sharad Pawar, rather than just expressing a wish, as Rane had done.