No more ‘popat’ or ‘Bunty aur Babli’, Raut and Ranas are all ‘cool’ now

Shiv Sena’s chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut, and the husband wife duo of Ravi Rana and Navneet Kaur Rana were, till recently, at loggerheads over political matters.

However, the latest photos that are doing the rounds on social media platforms show that they have set aside their differences, at least for now, while enjoying the cooler, majestic landscapes of Leh, Ladakh.

According to reports, Navneet Kaur Rana, an Independent Member of Parliament from Amravati, and Raut, a Rajya Sabha member, are in Leh, as part of the delegation of the Parliamentary Committee for External Affairs visiting the region. As per regulations, an MP is allowed to take a family member along, so husband Ravi was the obvious companion for the Amravati MP.

One of the photographs, that have emerged on social media platforms, shows Raut chatting with Ravi at a luncheon meet, while in another picture Raut can be seen with Navneet. The pictures seem to prove that they all have set aside their differences, for now.

Over the past month, Raut and the Ranas had exchanged heated comments over the couple’s threat to recite Hanuman Chalisa outside Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray’s home.

Ranas’ threat was in relation to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Raj Thackeray’s ultimatum over loudspeakers in mosques. They had wanted the Maharashtra Chief Minister to recite Hanuman Chalisa on Hanuman Jayanti in April to rid the state of crises. Barring which, the couple had said they would come chant it outside Uddhav’s home, Matoshree.

The Ranas were subsequently arrested and sent to jail for disturbing peace and on sedition charges. The couple is currently out on bail.

During their public quarrel, Raut, as spokesperson for Shiv Sena had called the couple “Bunty aur Babli” (the infamous con artists from popular culture), while the couple called Raut “popat” (parrot).

Raut had said: “For the last few days, some bogus ‘Hindutvawadis’ tried to spoil the atmosphere in Mumbai by announcing they would recite Hanuman Chalisa outside Matoshree…Amravati’s Bunty and Babli tried to create a ruckus in Mumbai and foment trouble…BJP used their shoulders to fire… don't mess with Shiv Sena and Matoshree, you’ll be buried 20 feet deep.”

To which, Navneet’s had retorted: “….that ‘popat’ said in Nagpur that he would bury me 20 feet under the ground…just wait and see, with the Lanka of corruption they have erected in the BMC, the people of Mumbai and Maharashtra will dump them 20 feet below the earth.”