War-of-words between Amravati MLAs Bachchu Kadu, Ravi Rana reach Shinde, Fadnavis's ears

Over the past few weeks, the war-of-words betwee the two MLAs from the Vidarbha region has intensified

The war-of-words between two Amravati MLAs—Bachchu Kadu and Ravi Rana—have reached Mumbai with Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis trying to resolve the dispute.

Kadu (52), the founder of Prahar Janshakti Party (PJP), is a four-time MLA from Achalpur. While in 2004, 2009, and 2014, he was an independent candidate, in 2019, he was elected under the banner of Prahar. Incidentally, Kadu was a minister in the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government. However, in June, he was among the first rebels to change his allegiance and shift to the Shinde camp.

Rana (36), the founder of Yuva Swabhiman Party (YSP), is a three-time MLA from Bandera, having won in 2009, 2014, and 2019. It is also worth mentioning that Rana and his wife, Navneet Kaur Rana, who is an MP from Amravati, had protested against Thackeray and threatened to sing Hanuman-chalisa outside his residence, following which they were arrested.

Also Read | Maharashtra govt, MVA in war of words over leaders' security

Over the past few weeks, the war-of-words between the two MLAs from the Vidarbha region has intensified.

Shinde and Fadnavis had asked both of them to reach an amicable solution and have also called them to Mumbai for deliberations.

Rana has accused Kadu of taking “pannas khokhe” (50 boxes) to go to Guwahati with Shinde, who split the Shiv Sena in one of the biggest political rebellions in the state. On the other hand, Kadu had challenged Rana to justify his allegations by 1 November or “face the consequences” as seven to eight MLAs too called him to express support.

Senior minister Gulabrao Patil said that both Kadu and Rana are senior MLAs and they should sort out their differences. “Shinde saheb and Devendra ji would look into the issue,” said Patil, a Shiv Sena MLA of Shinde-faction.