Threats and hooliganism have always been a hallmark of the politics practised by Shiv Sena. As the Shiv Sena led Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance is getting increasingly cornered due to a spate of controversies, Shiv Sainiks are hitting new lows. In an alarming allegation, Independent MP from Amravati, Navneet Rana has accused Shiv Sena MP from Mumbai South, Arvind Sawant of threatening her in the parliament.
Navneet Rana alleged that in the lobby of the parliament, she was threatened by Shiv Sena’s Arvind Sawant as allegedly he warned Rana of being jailed for talking in the House against the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government.
More worryingly, the Independent MP from Amravati informed the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Om Birla about receiving acid-attack threats through phone calls and on Shiv Sena letterheads.
In her letter dated March 22, Rana alleged, “Today, the way Shiv Sena parliamentarian Arvind Sawant has threatened me, it is an insult not just to me but to all the country’s women. Hence I seek the strictest of police action against Arvind Sawant.”
Rana stated that Sawant was miffed with her as she raised the issue of the sorry state of affairs in Maharashtra. She alleged that Sawant threatened her with statements like, “I’ll see how you roam around in Maharashtra”, and “We will put you, too, behind bars.”
While speaking to NDTV, Rana said, “I became blank at that point (in the Lok Sabha lobby) and immediately turned behind, one of my colleagues was there, and I just asked, ‘Did you hear?’ He said, ‘Yes I heard, Navneet’.”
Rana claimed that Bharat Margani, the Rajamundhry MP, was a witness to the alleged incident.
She added, “I have complained before, too, to the police and Om Birla ji about all the unwanted letters that I got in the name of Shiv Sena. I got calls saying ‘The beautiful face that you are proud of, we will put acid so that you will not be able to go anywhere…if you talk about Uddhav Thackeray ji’.”
Arvind Sawant on his part while rubbishing the allegations against him claimed that being a Shiv Sainik prevents him from threatening a woman — something which was missing when the Shiv Sena deployed its machinery to hound Kangana Ranaut for her audacity to speak up against the Supreme Leader Uddhav Thackeray.
“I have never threatened anyone in my life…Doing that to a woman is out of the question,” said Mumbai South MP Sawant. He added, “The House bars naming anyone from outside…but she does it and it goes on the record. Some people are skilled in twisting things and gaining publicity.”
Sawant added, “I condemn anyone who indulges in such acts (acid attack). If anyone even tries it, I will be standing with Navneet Rana.”
Further displaying his backward mentality, Sawant questioned Rana’s “aggressive body language” to which Rana replied saying, “I will not take orders from Shiv Sena or Mr Sawant on what body language to have and what to say.”
Already bogged under numerous controversies, Shiv Sena seems to stoop to a new low as its leaders like Arvind Sawant allegedly threaten those who have had enough of the hooliganism of the party and voice their opinion against it.