Navneet Rana, an incumbent MP from Amravati, joined the BJP in Nagpur late on Wednesday night in the presence of the party's state unit chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule.
She joined the BJP at the Bawankule's residence in Nagpur along with her supporters and in the presence of senior party leaders from Amravati, Nagpur, Wardha and other places. Her husband Ravi Rana, an MLA, was also present when she joined the BJP.
The BJP's Central Election Committee on Wednesday announced her name as the party's candidate for the Amravati seat. Mr Bawankule said she would file her election nomination on April 4.
Addressing a press conference around midnight at Bawankule's residence, Navneet Rana said that she followed the development path of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for the last five years as a supporter of the NDA.
Ms Rana expressed happiness over joining the BJP and said that she would ensure that the Amravati parliamentary constituency would be among the 400 seats that the party would win in the general elections.
Mr Bawankule said that Navneet Rana joined the BJP to support the Viksit Bharat vision of PM Modi. He also slammed Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray for sending Navneet Rana to jail during his tenure as chief minister of Maharashtra over the issue of chanting Hanuman Chalisa.
Mr Rana first contested from Amravati on an NCP ticket in 2014 and was defeated by Shiv Sena's Anandrao Adsul. In 2019, she contested the seat as an Independent supported by NCP and defeated Adsul.
However, after 2019, Rana started supporting the BJP.
Last month, The Supreme Court reserved its verdict on Navneet Rana's plea challenging the Bombay High Court verdict cancelling her caste certificate. On June 8, 2021, the high court said the 'Mochi' caste certificate was obtained fraudulently using fabricated documents. It had also imposed a fine of Rs 2 lakh on the Amravati MP.
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