High drama played out in Mira Bhayandar in Thane district of Maharashtra during the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) protest over the Marathi language row when Maharashtra Minister Pratap Baburao Sarnaik attempted to join the demonstration but was forcefully driven away by the agitated Thackeray loyalists.

The surprising part of the whole drama was that the Maharashtra minister had broken ranks with his government to come to the MNS protest site. He had also challenged his government, saying that the police can attempt to arrest him, but he would join the protest.

But what he expected as a warm welcome turned into chaos as MNS workers turned on the Maharashtra minister, calling him a “traitor”.

For those unfamiliar, Pratap Baburao Sarnaik is a member of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, which broke away from the party led by then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, ultimately triggering the fall of his government.

MNS workers called him a traitor and forced the minister to leave the spot. The minister had no choice but to leave as the crowd grew agitated.

During the protest, the police detained several MNS workers, including their Thane chief Avinash Jadhav, as they tried to march during the protest.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the administration asked them to take an alternate route, to which they did not agree.

Speaking to reporters outside the Assembly, Devendra Fadnavis said, “It would be wrong to say that we did not permit the protest at Mira Road. I have spoken to the commissioner, who told me that the Police did not refuse permission for the protest.”

"They had asked for permission for a meeting. We were giving them that permission, but they wanted to hold a protest march on a route where it was not possible to do so. We asked them to take an alternate route, but they did not agree to it. It would be wrong to say that they were not given permission," the CM said.

(With agency inputs)