Independent MP Navneet Rana who hit headlines earlier this month amidst the 'Hanuman Chalisa' row took a swipe at Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray as she called him 'Shani' (Saturn, also denotes misfortune/adversity), according to India Today report.
Rana returned to Amravati on Saturday, after spending over a month in Delhi to depose before the parliamentary privileges panel about the alleged mistreatment meted out to her while in jail.
After returning, Navneet Rana questioned why there is opposition to Ram and Hanuman in Maharashtra, and alleged that the Hindu deities are being insulted in the state.
“I conducted the Hanuman Chalisa in Delhi in such a peaceful manner. There was security as well and I faced no problem. But I have no idea why there is an issue over reciting Hanuman Chalisa in Maharashtra,” she said, a month after being arrested for threatening to chant the Hanuman Chalisa outside Uddhav Thackeray's residence.
Taking a dig at the Shiv Sena chief, Rana said, “Today is Saturday and the shani [Saturn, also denotes misfortune/adversity] needs to leave Maharashtra too.”
Yesterday, the MP-MLA couple, arrived in Nagpur from Delhi and recited the Hanuman Chalisa at a local temple.
For the unversed, The couple was arrested on April 23 after announcing that they would recite Hanuman Chalisa in front of 'Matoshree', the private residence of Uddhav Thackeray in Bandra in Mumbai, the move leading to a tense stand-off with Shiv Sena workers through the day.
The couple was granted bail on May 4 by a special court in Mumbai.
Incidentally, NCP workers performed 'havan' ( a fire ritual) and recited Hanuman Chalisa at the same temple, in Ram Nagar in Nagpur, sometime after the Rana couple, with workers of the Sharad Pawar-led party saying they sought divine help to control inflation.
