Maharashtra MLA Ravi Rana and MP Navneet Rana, who had planned to recite Hanuman Chalisa outside Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's residence 'Matoshree', had called off the agitation on Thursday saying "our aim was fulfilled".
The MLA had cited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Mumbai tomorrow as the reason for calling off the agitation.
The duo claimed that they were not under any kind of pressure or scared by the Maha Vikas Aghadi or the Shiv Sena, but were dropping their plans in honour of the PM's trip to Mumbai.
Addressing the press conference, Ravi Rana, who is an independent MLA from Badnera in Amravati district, said, "Leader of Opposition and former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis spoke to me and told me about Prime Minister Narendra Modi being honoured Lata Deenanath Mangeshkar award on Sunday. Therefore, in order to avoid any untoward incident a day before the programme today, we decided to withdraw our decision to recite Hanuman Chalisa outside the residence of CM Uddhav Thackeray."
"As a CM, Fadnavis has brought huge development to Maharashtra, whereas Uddhav Thackeray has not done anything in the last two and half years of his tenure. If there is an iota of late Balasaheb Thackeray's thoughts left in Uddhav Thackeray, he should not distance himself from the Hindutva ideology," he added.
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Speaking to news agency ANI, Amravati MP Navneet Rana said, "Our aim was fulfilled, though Ravi Rana & I couldn't reach 'Matoshree' (CM Uddhav Thackeray's residence), Hanuman chalisa that was supposed to be chanted by us was chanted by bhakts outside the CM's residence."
She attacked Shiv Sena and claimed that the party has 'become a party of goons.' "CM Uddhav Thackeray only knows how to file offences against people & put them behind bars. He's creating a Bengal-like situation in Maharashtra," the MP alleged.
Rana had earlier told reporters that he had demanded the chief minister read Hanuman Chalisa on Hanuman Jayanti "to rid Maharashtra of crises and attain peace for the state," but Thackeray had "refused" to do so.
Rana had supported the BJP-Sena government during 2014-19.
His demand followed Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray's 'ultimatum' to the state government to remove loudspeakers from mosques by May 3. He had threatened to play Hanuman Chalisa outside the mosques if the demand was not met. The BJP supported Raj's demand.
(with PTI inputs)
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