"Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant Threatened In Parliament, Warned Of Acid Attack": MP Navneet Rana

Independent Member of Parliament from Amaravati, Navneet Rana, has alleged that Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant threatened her after she raised the matter of suspended Maharashtra cop Sachin Vaze in the lower house.

In a letter to Lok Sabha speaker on March 22, Rana said that Sawant was angry over her raising the issue of affairs in the Maharashtra government. Sawant threatened her in the lower house's lobby and warned her of being put behind bars if she raised any issue against the state government.

"I became blank at that point and immediately turned behind. One of my colleagues was there, and I just asked, 'Did you hear?' He said, 'Yes, I heard, Navneet'," Rana told NDTV, narrating the incident inside the Lok Sabha. She said Bharat Margani, Rajamundhry MP, had witnessed the incident.

Rana said she had received several calls and letters threatening her with an acid attack and murder whenever she raised allegations against the Thackeray government. "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'," the media quoted her as saying.

Responding to the allegations, Sawant said he never threatened anyone in his life and called the allegations 'outright lies.' The Sindhudurg MP said he would instead protect and stand with the female colleague if she received such threats.

He said that it was, in fact, Rana who keeps threatening everyone. "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 said.

He also alleged Rana of outpouring her anger after their party defeated Amravati candidate Anandrao Adsu in 2019 and had filed a case over her caste certificate.

Sawant also raised his concerns about her 'aggressive body language when she spoke about the state government'. Rana said that she would not be taking orders from the Shiv Sena members on the body language and the speech.

In the Lok Sabha, Rana had raised the Vaze issue and the corruption allegations against Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh and demanded the state government to step down.