Mumbai, Dec 1 (IANS): A Mumbai court on Friday granted bail to former city mayor Datta Dalvi who was arrested on November 28 for insulting Chief Minister Eknath Shinde recently.

A senior Shiv Sena (UBT) leader, Dalvi, 71, was nabbed for allegedly using abusive language against Shiv Sena's CM Shinde at an event last Sunday.

He was sent to 14 days' judicial custody and was lodged in Thane Central Jail before getting a bail of Rs 15,000 on Friday.

Soon after stepping out of the jail, Dalvi said that he would go to meet party president and former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray at his residence, since he had called him twice after the arrest and assured his full backing. Targetting the ruling Shiv Sena, he said "we are not the progeny of traitors" and said he was deliberately arrested as a vendetta by the government which was misusing its powers.

One of the staunchest loyalists of the Thackerays, after the party split in June 2022, Dalvi opted to remain with the Shiv Sena (UBT).

He was accorded a warm welcome by his family and scores of his supporters at his Vikhroli home this afternoon. Top party leaders including MP Sanjay Raut, MLA Sunil Raut, deputy leader Sushma Andhare and others had flayed Dalvi's arrest terming it as unjustified and under political pressures.