Nana Patole, a BJP MP from Gondia-Bhandara, launched a bomb shell at the PM during a function on Friday where he said Modi once got angry at him for raising issues such as problems being faced by farmers during a meeting of parliamentarians.

In the meeting, he said, he had made suggestions such as raising green tax, increasing centre’s investment in agriculture sector and creating an OBC ministry but instead of appreciating his suggestions, Modi got angry and asked him to shut up.

The state BJP chief did not comment on Patole’s statements, maintaining that any action against the MP would need to come from the central leadership of the party.

Defending his outburst, Patole said on Saturday, “I know that I am in the hit list of the party. But I hardly bother about it. I am not scared of anyone. I did not wish to be a minister because the union ministers live in a state of fear”.

In his tirade the day before, Patole was unsparing in his criticism of not just Modi but also chief minister Devendra Fadavis. “Lot of irrigation projects in backward Vidarbha region were pending because of lack of funds. But the state government miserably failed to pursue the issue with the union government,” he said.

He added that only Nagpur, Fadnavis’s constituency, gets funding. “When Nagpur is getting a metro rail and new industries, waters of Bhandara and neighbouring areas were being polluted”.