Sanjay Raut accuses Fadnavis of misleading people on Hanuman Chalisa row

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Tuesday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party's Devendra Fadnavis of misleading the people on the Hanuman Chalisa row in Mumbai. "Devendra Fadnavis is misleading people. No one is punished for chanting Hanuman Chalisa. If anyone wants to chant it, they can do it in their homes or temples. Trying to get inside someone else's home and destroying their peace is wrong," said Raut.

Raut's reply came after Fadnavis (on Monday) alleged that the state government has "taken up the role of Hitler." The police took action against MP Navneet Rana and her husband Ravi Rana after they threatened to recite Hanuman Chalisa outside the Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's private residence in Mumbai.

"The Maharashtra government wants to crush and kill the Opposition. Will Hanuman Chalisa be spoken in Pakistan, if not in Maharashtra? If sedition charges get imposed on Navneet and Ravi Rana, we will all chant Hanuman Chalisa. If the government has the guts, try charging us with sedition," Fadnavis said on Monday. Meanwhile, on the same day, the Bombay High Court also dismissed the petition moved by the couple for quashing the FIR registered against them for allegedly assaulting the police officer who came to arrest the couple.

The MP-MLA couple was arrested in Mumbai on Sunday. Currently, MLA Ravi Rana is lodged in Taloja Jail and MP Naveneet Rana is lodged in Byculla Jail. On Saturday, a row started when the MP-MLA couple stated that they plan to chant Hanuman Chalisa outside 'Matoshree' (Maharashtra CM's Mumbai Residence), after which a huge crowd gathered outside the residence of the political couple waving flags with an aim to prevent them from reaching the CM's residence.

The Ranas withdrew their plan to chant Hanuman Chalisa amid the protests from Shiv Sainiks that culminated in their arrest on the charge of creating enmity between different groups. Notably, issuing clarification over the row, Navneet Rana wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla stating that she wanted to ignite the flame of 'Hindutva' in Shiv Sena, not to create any religious tensions by chanting the "Hanuman Chalisa" outside the residence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.