The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday fielded Navneet Rana from the Amravati constituency in Maharashtra whereas several other candidates like N Eswara Rao, P Vishnukumar Raju, Pangi Rajarao and others were fielded from Andhra Pradesh’s Etcheria, Vishakhapatnam North, and Anaparthy in a separate list.
Who is Navneet Rana?
Navneet Kaur Rana hailing from Mumbai, Maharashtra is the daughter of an army official. After completing her schooling, Rana started working as a model. She appeared in multiple music videos. Soon Rana also started working in South Indian films, a report from India.com said.
Navneet Rana started her political career after marrying BJP leader Ravi Rana. She contested her first election from Amravati in 2014 on an NCP ticket but did not manage to win the election. Later, Rana was elected from Amravati in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as an independent candidate.
In 2021, the High Court of Bombay fined her Rs. 2 lakh, for submitting a fake caste certificate. The Supreme Court, last month, completed the hearing on the petition against Rana’s caste validity and is expected to pronounce the verdict next week.
In 2022, Rana and her husband Ravi Rana were arrested by Mumbai police following their insistence to recite Hanuman Chalisa in front of ‘Matoshree’, the residence of former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray. Later they were sent to 14 days of judicial custody, where Rana was sent to the Byculla women’s jail on the orders of the local magistrate.
Local leaders in Amravati opposed Navneet Rana’s candidature from the Amravati constituency for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Meanwhile, speaking about her candidature from the constituency, a BJP leader said, “After winning as an independent, Rana stood for the BJP for the last five years, and thus our party leadership had announced her candidature.”
(With inputs from ANI)