Mumbai: 80-year-old woman steals limelight during Sena's protest against Ranas

Mumbai: An octogenarian woman became the unlikely star of the Shiv Sena's protest against Amravati MP Navneet Rana and her husband, MLA Ravi Rana outside `Matoshri', the residence of party chief and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray here, on Saturday.

She also caught Thackeray's attention and he invited her inside for a tete-a-tete.

Sena workers had gathered outside the Thackeray residence in large numbers since Friday night after the Ranas announced that they would recite the Hanuman Chalisa outside Matoshree. The couple later called off the plan.

Chandrabhaga Ganpat Shinde was among hundreds of Shiv Sena supporters camping outside Matoshri to confront the Ranas.

Shinde, wearing a saffron saree, was seen shouting slogans.

She attracted the attention of others, and soon a new slogan was coined: "Ravi Rana kayar hain, Aajji amchi fire hain" (Ravi Rana is coward and our grandma (Aajji) is fire ). Shinde responded by saying "Jhukenga Nahi", evoking a popular line from the film "Pushpa".

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray later invited her inside the house.

Shinde told reporters that she told Thackeray that she will not allow the Rana couple near Matoshri.

A resident of Sewree Naka in Central Mumbai, she sells vegetables for earning her living, she said.