Hanuman Chalisa row: Rana couple has full right to speak about injustice done to them, says Union Minister Athawale

New Delhi [India], May 9 (ANI): Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale on Monday extended his support to the Rana couple on behalf of the Republican Party of India (Athawale) and said that the couple has full right to speak about the injustice done to them.

After being released from the jail today, Lok Sabha MP from Amravati Navneet Rana and her MLA husband Ravi Rana reached Delhi to meet Home Minister Amit Shah and Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla.

Regarding the couple's visit to Delhi to complain about the alleged misconduct done to them in custody here, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale said, "They have full right to meet the Home Minister and speaker of Lok Sabha to put forward the injustice done to them. In fact, they have the right to meet whoever they want to meet. The couple has full support from the Republican party. We condemn the injustice done to the Rana couple."

He condemned the injustice done to the Rana couple and said that they had only announced to recite the Hanuman Chalisa, but had not done anything further. The inhuman treatment of the administration and the Maharashtra government with the couple is unfair, said Athawale.

He further said, "They had just announced to recite the Hanuman Chalisa in front of Matoshree's bungalow. Police arrested them from their house and filed a case against them. They have been charged with sedition, this is unfair. The administration and government are playing with democracy. The pressure mechanism of the Uddhav Thackeray government is not right."

The minister accused the Thackeray government of misusing BMC to harass the Rana couple and further for their own benefits.

"I think Shiv Sena is soon going to lose power over BMC. Once the elections are held, they will be out of power. They can misuse BMC only till they are in power," he added.

Speaking about the BMC's notice to the Rana couple on the illegal construction of their residence in Mumbai, Athawale said, "There are many illegal constructions in the city, we don't support that. But Shiv Sena is deliberately trying to harass some people. Earlier, they demolished Kangana Ranaut's office. Now they have given notice to Rana couple to demolish the illegal construction, this is not good."

The Rana couple was granted bail on Wednesday, from the court after staying 12 days in jail. While granting bail, the court had also put several conditions, violating which the bail was subjected to be cancelled. One of such conditions includes that Navneet Rana and her husband could not issue any statement in the media regarding the case.

The MP-MLA couple was arrested on April 23 from their Mumbai residence after they declared that they would recite Hanuman Chalisa outside Uddhav Thackeray's home in Bandra.

The two were booked in two FIRs lodged on charges of sedition, promoting enmity, and assaulting a public servant to prevent discharge of duty. (ANI)

Source: National