Firm on plan to recite Hanuman Chalisa outside Maha CM's residence on Apr 23: MLA Ravi Rana

Ravi Rana, an independent MLA in Maharashtra, said he was firm on his plan to recite Hanuman Chalisa outside the residence of chief minister Uddhav Thackeray here on April 23. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, he said, I am going to recite Hanuman Chalisa outside the residence of chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday.

Ravi Rana, an independent MLA in Maharashtra, said he was firm on his plan to recite Hanuman Chalisa outside the residence of chief minister Uddhav Thackeray here on April 23. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, he said, ''I am going to recite Hanuman Chalisa outside the residence of chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday. He (CM) uses Hindus only for voting, but opposes it when it comes to exercising religious rights in day-to-day life.'' Rana had earlier announced that he along with his supporters would recite Hanuman Chalisa outside the residence of CM Thackeray on Saturday.

''Thackeray did not give permission for recital of Hanuman Chalisa on Hanuman Jayanti (April 16) and hurt the sentiments of many of his followers. Hence we decided to recite the religious verses outside his house,'' he said.

Rana comes from Amravati district and has won assembly election as an independent. He had extended support to the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP-Sena government in 2014-19.

Last week, Rana had asked Thackeray to recite the devotional hymns at his residence on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti, drawing severe criticism from the Shiv Sena, which accused him of stoking communal disharmony in the state.