Ranas firm on reciting Hanuman Chalisa outside Maha CM's house; police issue notice to them

Unfazed by the Shiv Senas ire and a notice by Mumbai Police, Amravati MP Navneet Rana and her husband and MLA Ravi Rana on Friday said they would recite the Hanuman Chalisa outside Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackerays residence here.They will turn up outside Matoshree, Thackerays personal residence in suburban Bandra, on Saturday as announced earlier, the couple, both independent legislators, told reporters.

Unfazed by the Shiv Sena's ire and a notice by Mumbai Police, Amravati MP Navneet Rana and her husband and MLA Ravi Rana on Friday said they would recite the Hanuman Chalisa outside Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's residence here.

They will turn up outside `Matoshree', Thackeray's personal residence in suburban Bandra, on Saturday as announced earlier, the couple, both independent legislators, told reporters. The city police visited the Rana couple and served them a notice, asking them not to disturb the law and order situation in the city, an official said. Ravi Rana told reporters here that he had demanded that chief minister read Hanuman Chalisa on Hanuman Jayanti ''to rid Maharashtra of crises and attain peace for the state,'' but Thackeray, who heads the Shiv Sena, “refused”.

“We will go there (Matoshree) to read the Hanuman Chalisa at nine tomorrow. We will cooperate with police. I have asked our workers to ensure that law and order is not disturbed in Mumbai. Police and people should not be troubled,” he added.

The chief minister did not visit Mantralaya, the state government's administrative headquarters, for two years during the coronavirus pandemic and did not meet MPs and MLAs from the state, Rana alleged.

Endorsing him, MP Nanveet Rana said if an ordinary person did not go to office for two years, he would lose salary. ''Our CM is getting salary without working,'' she added. She also dismissed Sena MP Sanjay Raut's statement that the husband-wife duo were engaging in this political “stunt” at the BJP's behest. ''He speaks like a parrot every day,” she said.

Chief Minister Thackeray, meanwhile, arrived in the afternoon at `Matoshree' where Shiv Sena workers and leaders had gathered in large numbers since morning and were shouting slogans. Thackeray was seen greeting them with his palms joined together as he went inside. Shiv Sena MP Vinayak Raut, who was present outside `Matoshree', accused the BJP of hatching a conspiracy to harass the Shiv Sena-led coalition government in the state and using the Ranas and MNS chief Raj Thackeray as pawns.

''`Mahaprasad' is ready. Whoever comes, will get it,'' he told reporters cryptically. ''But we want to show the BJP that the Shiv Sena is still alive. We have buried a dishonest friend like you. We are ready to bury you again,” Raut said.

Sena's Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut said Hanuman Chalisa and Ram Navami were matters of faith and not occasions for stunt.

''People like Rana are characters in the nautanki (drama) and stunt of the BJP. People don't take this stunt seriously,'' he said.

He described the Rana couple as 'Bunty aur Babli', reference to a Hindi movie starring Abhishek Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee.

Secretary of Yuva Sena, the party’s youth wing, Varun Saardesai, said the party workers will not let the couple go back without 'prasad' ''if they dared to turn up''.

Sena MP Anil Desai said his party follows ''real Hindutva'' and wondered if the Ranas themselves can recite the Hanuman Chalisa.

NCP' spokesperson Mahesh Tapase claimed that the Ranas were trying to destabilize the Sena-NCP-Congress government in the state and fuel communal tension.

''Rana couple are planning to recite Hanuman Chalisa outside 'Matoshree'. Is this the job of a public representative?” he asked.

An independent MLA from Badnera in Amravati district, Ravi Rana had supported the BJP-Sena government during 2014-19.

Earlier in the day, a team led by Deputy Commissioner of Police Manjunath Singe visited the Ranas' residence in suburban Khar, and served them a notice under section 149 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

The section gives police powers to prevent any cognisable offence. The couple accepted the notice, the DCP said. As per the notice, the police requested the Ranas not to disturb peace and maintain law and order, the official said.

Ravi Rana had earlier demanded that CM Thackeray recite Hanuman Chalisa at home on Hanuman Jayanti. His demand followed Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray's `ultimatum' to the state government to remove loudspeakers from mosques by May 3. He had threatened to play Hanuman Chalisa outside the mosques if the demand was not met. The BJP supported his demand.