Devendra Fadnavis welcomes Navneet & Ravi Rana's bail; slams Shiv Sena-led MVA govt

After independent Lok Sabha MP Navneet Rana and her husband, MLA Ravi Rana, were granted bail by the Mumbai Sessions Court on Wednesday, Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly Devendra Fadnavis welcomed the decision and launched a scathing attack on the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. 

Speaking to the media, Fadnavis said the act of the state government of sending the Rana couple to jail and laying sedition charges on them was "mere stupidity" and now the court has given the answer of their stupidity by keeping aside the sedition charge.

"Sedition charges only for reciting Hanuman Chalisa shows what will the government's stand on the loudspeaker issue be", Fadnavis said.

Further hailing the court's decision of giving bail to Navneet Rana and Ravi, he said that the court has taken the right decision as putting sedition charges for the reciting Hanuman Chalisa in the country is foolishness.

"Today by granting bail, the court has revealed the foolishness done by the state government", Fadnavis said adding that it is the state government's responsibility to ensure that the Supreme Court's order is followed. 

Rana couple granted bail 

Lok Sabha MP Navneet Rana and her husband Ravi Rana were granted bail on Wednesday by the Mumbai Sessions Court ending their judicial custody.  

While Navneet Rana was taken to the JJ Hospital from the Byculla Jail this morning, Ravi Rana continues to languish in the Taloja Jail. Notably, they will be released on bail after furnishing a surety of Rs.50,000 each.

In the meantime, a fresh debate has erupted between the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the demolition of the Babri Masjid after the Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly, Devendra Fadnavis, claimed that he was among the ones who demolished the Babri Masjid in 1992 adding that no members of the Shiv Sena were present at the time.

Reacting to the same, Maharashtra Minister Aaditya Thackeray took a jibe at Fadnavis, sarcastically stating that the BJP leader has also made a great contribution in the battle of 1857. 

Reacting to it, Fadnavis said that "those born with golden spoons will never understand the value of struggle". Calling Thackeray a "Mercedes Baby", he said these people have joined hands with people who don't even consider the 1857 struggle as a freedom struggle.

"Those born with a golden spoon will never understand the value of struggle. The 'Mercedes Baby' cannot understand struggle", Fadnavis said. 

(Image: ANI)