Mumbai : BJP's Lok Sabha candidate from Amravati, Navneet Rana, along with her husband Ravi Rana, met Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday.
According to a release by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), BJP state president Chandrasekhar Bawankule and deputy CM Fadnavis will accompany Navneet Rana as she files her nomination papers for the Lok Sabha elections at 9 am in Amravati on April 4.
Earlier in the day, Navneet, a sitting Independent MP, joined the BJP in the presence of the party's state president, Bawankule, in Nagpur.
After joining the BJP, Navneet thanked the party for honouring her hard work, adding that she will work as a dedicated karyakarta.
"For the last five years, I was working on carrying forward the ideas of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. My ideology was no different.
My husband, MLA Ravi Rana, also supported the BJP government in Maharashtra. PM Modi supports those working in the grassroots. He gave me the ticket. The BJP has honoured my hard work and we will fulfil our resolve of crossing 400 seats. I will work as a dedicated worker of the BJP," Navneet said.
Navneet was elected an Independent MP from Amravati in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. After marrying BJP politician Ravi Rana, Navneet forayed into politics. In 2014, she ran in her first election from Amravati on the NCP platform but her debut electoral contest ended in defeat.
Later, running for a seat in the Lower House as an Independent candidate, she was elected an MP from Amravati. With 48 Lok Sabha seats, Maharashtra sends the second-highest legislators to the Lower House after Uttar Pradesh.
Elections in the 48 parliamentary constituencies of Maharashtra will be held in five phases--April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, and May 20.
In the 2019 elections, the BJP won 23 out of 25 seats it contested while the undivided Shiv Sena secured 18 of the 23 seats it fought.
In 2014, the BJP won 23 seats and Shiv Sena 18. The undivided Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) won 4 seats while the Congress had to settle for just 2 seats.