Mumbai: Rana couple criticised for 'throwing' Ganesha idol during Visarjan

Mumbai: Maharashtra MP Navneet Rana and her husband MLA Ravi Rana have been heavily criticized by netizens and political leaders for disrespectfully treating the Ganesha idol during the final day of Visarjan.

A video of the politicians has gone viral in which the couple could be seen chanting 'Ganpatipati Bappa Mourya' while taking their idol for the immersion on the last day of the festival. However, at the time of immersion, which is a process of taking the Ganpati idol into the water respectfully, the couple in the video can be throwing the Ganesh idol from above the bridge on which they were standing.

There is a ritual to be followed during Ganesha Visarjan, generally, during at the time of immersion, the idol is immersed in water two to three times and then it is taken away further. To immerse the idol of Bappa, Navneet Rana first carried Bappa on her head to the immersion pond and then was seen throwing the idol directly into the pond for immersion.

Slamming the couple and the BJP, Samajwadi Party in a statement on Twitter said that the Rana couple, who made a hue and cry about over the Hanuman Chalisa row can now be seen disrespecting Ganesha.

"BJP-backed MP Navneet Rana and her husband Ravi Rana, who sat on a dharna in front of the CM's residence in Maharashtra in the name of reading Hanuman Chalisa and had created a hue and cry over the issue, now disrespectfully doing Ganesh immersion. Take a look. Is this pro-BJP ideology?" the Samajwadi Party said.

"This is your Hindutva," Shiv Sena spokesperson Manisha Kayande tweeted.

Uddhav faction’s Shiv Sena MP, Priyanka Chaturvedi, slammed the Ranas, calling the incident offensive.

"After the drama of Param Hanuman devotee, now showing Ganpati devotion. This is truly offensive," she tweeted.