Ravi Rana

Ravi Gangadhar Rana^[1] is an Indian independent politician, a 3rd time MLA presently representing the Badnera (Vidhan Sabha constituency) in Amravati District of Vidarbha region of Maharashtra in its 13th Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.^[2]

Ravi Rana
Rana in 2019
Member of Legislative Assembly, Maharashtra
Incumbent
Assumed office 2009
Preceded by	Sulbha Sanjay Khodke
Constituency	Badnera
Personal details
Born	Ravi Gangadhar Rana 28 April 1980
Nationality	Indian
Political party	Rashtriya Yuva Swabhiman Party
Spouse	Navneet Kaur Rana
Alma mater	Amravati College (B.Com.), Maharashtra

Life and career

Rana hails from Shankarnagar, Amravati and was born to Gangadhar Narayan Rana. He completed his SSC in 1996 and HSC in 1998 from Amravati Board. He is a graduate with bachelor of commerce degree in 2000 from Amravati College.^[3][4]

He married former Telugu actress Navneet Kaur in a mass marriage ceremony. This event took place on 3 February 2011 in the presence of many political leaders and VIPs. The then Chief Minister of Maharashtra Prithviraj Chavan and Baba Ramdev, remained present to bless the newly wedded couple in the same event. Navneet later went on to win the elections to become a Member of Parliament.

In 2011, he did an indefinite fast in central jail for farmers to get fair price for their products.^[5] On 6 October 2015, Rana stopped an encroachment on a single local barber shop.^[6]

In 2019 the elections for the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha, he defeated Shiv Sena candidate Priti Sanjay Band with a margin of 15541 votes and became MLA for the third time in a row. After that, Rana pledged to support the Bharatiya Janata Party unconditionally.^[7]

In April 2020, the Maharashtra police invoked IPC section 188, that is disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant, against Rana and his aides when they broke the law; removed barricades to reach Irwin Square for paying tributes to B R Ambedkar amid a nationwide punctuated COVID-19 lockdown by the central government.^[8] In April 2022, Rana and his wife Navneet were arrested by Mumbai police following their insistence to recite Hanuman Chalisa in front of Matoshree the residence of Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray. Later they were sent to 14 days of judicial custody on the orders of local magistrate.^[9] They were granted bail in Hanuman chalisa row on a bond of ₹50,000 and directed not to speak to the media about the case on 4th of May 2022.. Rana sparked controversy by stating that the Rs 1,500 monthly aid would be withdrawn if beneficiaries did not vote for Maha Yuti[10].

References

1. "Member's Profile = Navneet Rana". Lok Sabha. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
2. "Results of Maharashtra Assembly polls 2014". India Today. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
3. "Ravi Rana(Independent(IND)):Constituency- BADNERA(AMARAVATI) - Affidavit Information of Candidate". myneta.info. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
4. "Ravi Rana(Independent(IND)):Constituency- BADNERA(AMARAVATI) - Affidavit Information of Candidate". myneta.info. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
5. Maitra, Pradip Kumar (17 November 2011). "State tries to shift MLA Rana from jail to hospital". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
6. "MLA saves old man's shop from encroachment | Nagpur News". The Times of India. 7 October 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
7. ANI (24 November 2019). "Fadnavis govt has support of 175 MLAs, it will increase: MLA Ravi Rana". Business Standard India. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
8. PTI (15 April 2020). "Maharashtra MLA Pays Tribute To BR Ambedkar Amid Lockdown, Charged". NDTV. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
9. The Mint Scoop (14 August 2024). "Who is Ravi Rana | Controversial Figure | Indian Independent Politician". www.themintscoop.com. Retrieved 14 August 2024.