Independent MP from Amravati Navneet Rana, currently out on bail after her arrest by Khar Police for threatening to recite the Hanuman Chalisa outside Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s private residence Matoshree last month, has challenged Thackeray to contest an election against her.
She also claimed that Lord Ram and the people of ‘my Maharashtra’ would teach him a lesson at the polls for the atrocious treatment meted out to her. Reacting to this remark, former Mayor Kishori Pednekar dubbed Rana an ‘immature Babli’.
On Sunday, after her discharge from Lilavati Hospital, clutching her book of Hanuman Chalisa, Rana addressed the media, saying, “What offence did I commit that I was sent to jail?
If for chanting the name of Lord Ram and Hanuman, this government is sending me to jail, forget 14 days, I am ready to stay in jail for 14 years. If they (the Shiv Sena) think they can shut me up with such tactics, they are mistaken. I will not stop this crusade. I challenge Uddhav Thackeray to contest an election.
Stand from any district in Maharashtra and I will contest the election against you and the people of my Maharashtra will give you a befitting reply. I will also address rallies against the Shiv Sena during the BMC election. We will burn this corrupt Lanka of the Shiv Sena-led BMC in the upcoming elections.”