BJP’s Navneet Rana 'spat on', escapes flying chairs in Amravati rally chaos

Visuals of the alleged incident showed Rana surrounded by her supporters as a group of people hurled chairs at a rally that was taking place at Khallar village.

Ruckus erupted after a mob allegedly attacked a rally by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former MP Navneet Rana in poll-bound Maharashtra's Amravati on Saturday evening, with chairs being thrown and threat slogans being raised.

The police have initiated the process of filing an FIR, and the identification of the accused is underway based on viral videos.(X/@navneetravirana & PTI_News)

Visuals of the alleged incident showed Navneet Rana surrounded by her supporters as a group of people hurled chairs at a rally that was taking place at Khallar village.

In one such video, Navneet was seen marching towards the mob, appearing to ask them to go away even as chairs kept on hitting the people surrounding her from behind. Rana's security personnel were seen trying to shield her as the chairs targeted her.

The former MP was seen at the Khallar police station after the incident. The police have initiated the process of filing an FIR, and the identification of the accused is underway based on viral videos, reports said, adding that additional forces were deployed at the village.

"We were campaigning peacefully in Khallar. But during my speech, some people started making lewd gestures and hooting. I did not react. Then they started raising Allahu Akbar slogans. When party supporters asked them not to use slangs for me, they started throwing chairs," an NDTV report quoted Navneet Rana as saying.

Navneet Rana claimed she was verbally abused and even spat on, adding that "it fell on the uniform of a security personnel"

"I was accompanied by mediapersons, but their anger was directed at me. They started throwing chairs and verbally abusing me. Some of the party functionaries with me were injured. It is clearly seen in the video. The six security personnel with me saved me. I was spat on, but it fell on the uniform of a security personnel. We have filed a complaint. If no one is arrested soon, the whole Hindu community of Amravati will gather here," she said.

Kiran Wankhade, crime branch inspector in Amravati Rural, said a dispute broke out between two groups when Rana was in Khallar village to campaign for Ramesh Bundile, the BJP candidate from Daryapur constituency which is going to polls on November 20 in the Maharashtra Assembly election. He requested the citizens to not believe in rumours, adding that investigation is underway.

Actor-turned-politician Rana represented Amravati Lok Sabha seat as an Independent MP from 2019 to 2024. In the 2024 general elections, the Congress won the Amravati constituency by defeating Navneet Rana, who was fighting on a BJP ticket, by around 20,000 votes.

Navneet Rana is married to Ravi Rana, MLA from Maharashtra's Badnera seat and was earlier with the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).