Ravi Rana is an Indian independent politician, social worker, and founder of the Yuva Swabhiman Party (YSP). As an independent candidate, Rana was elected as an MLA for the third time in a row from the Badnera Assembly Constituency in the 2019 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections.
Wiki/Biography
Ravi Gangadhar Rana was born on Monday, 28 April 1980 (age 42 years; as of 2022), and he hails from Shankar Nagar, Amravati, Maharashtra. His zodiac sign is Taurus. He completed his schooling in 1998. Thereafter, he pursued a Bachelor of Commerce from Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University, Amravati, but he dropped out in his second year. Apart from being a politician, Rana is also a social worker and farmer.
Family
Parents & Siblings
Ravi Rana father’s name is Gangadhar Narayan Rana. Not much is much about his mother and siblings.
Wife & Children
On 2 February 2011, Ravi Rana got married to the actress-turned-politician Navneet Kaur Rana, who has mainly worked in the Telugu entertainment industry.
Ravi Rana and Navneet Rana
Navneet and Ravi were one of 3613 couples who tied the knot in a mass marriage ceremony held in Science Core Ground, Amravati, where various popular Indian personalities like Baba Ramdev, Maulana Mahmood Madani, Vivek Oberoi, and Prithviraj Chavan were present.
A picture of Ravi Rana and Navneet Rana on their wedding day, along with Baba Ramdev and Vivek Oberoi
Navneet was born in a Punjabi family and raised in Mumbai. Navneet Rana is an independent candidate, a Member of Parliament from the Amravati constituency. The couple made acquaintance at an ashram of Baba Ramdev during one of his Yog Shivirs organised by Ravi Rana. Together, Navneet and Ravi have a son, Ranveer, and a daughter, Aarohi.
Ravi Rana and Navneet Rana with their son, Ranveer
Navneet Kaur Rana with her daughter
Religion
Ravi Rana follows Hinduism.
Ravi Rana’s Facebook picture
Career
Politics
2009 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Elections
Ravi Rana contested the 2009 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections as an independent candidate from the Badnera Assembly Constituency in the Amravati District of the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. He won the elections defeating the NCP candidate Sulbha Khodke by 18771 votes. In the elections, a coalition government of Congress and NCP was formed with Ashok Chavan (of Congress) as the chief minister.
2014 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Elections
Ravi Rana contested the 2014 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections as an independent candidate from the Badnera Assembly Constituency. He won the elections defeating the Shiv Sena candidate Band Sanjay by 7419 votes.
2019 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Elections
Ravi Rana contested the 2019 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections as an independent candidate from the Badnera Assembly Constituency. He won the elections defeating the Shiv Sena candidate Priti Band with a margin of 15541 votes. Later, he offered his unconditional support to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form the government in the state after the elections. However, the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) of the BJP and SHS failed to form a government after which Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress formed the Maharashtra government under a new alliance called Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), with Uddhav Thackeray as the Chief Minister.
Controversies
Arrested During a Farmers’ Agitation (2011)
In 2011, Rana was arrested and jailed in the Central Jail Amravati for participating in farmers’ agitation demanding a better remunerative price for raw cotton. Rana, along with his wife and Yuva Swabhimani Sanghatana, had launched a protest against the government in support of hiking the minimum guarantee price of raw cotton from Rs 3,300 to Rs 6,000 per quintal. While he was in jail, he went on an indefinite hunger strike for the cause due to which his health deteriorated. CM Prithviraj Chavan’s emissary and the Maharashtra minister for Industries Narayan Rane talked with Rana over the telephone to convince him to end his fast, but Rana refused to relent.
Clash with Shiv Sena District Chief Dinesh Boob (2019)
After the 2019 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections, Ravi Rana physically came to blows with Dinesh Boob, Shiv Sena’s Amravati district chief. Reportedly, the leaders were attending an event at an old-age home when Ravi Rana accused the Shiv Sena leader of using foul language while talking about his MP wife, Navneet Rana. Thereafter, the verbal quarrel escalated to fisticuffs and the two manhandled each other. Soon, police intervened and forced Dinesh Boob and his supporters to leave the ashram.
Booked for Violating Lockdown Norms (2020)
In 2020, Ravi Rana was booked by the police for violating the COVID-19 lockdown norms to pay tribute to BR Ambedkar on the occasion of his birth anniversary. Rana, along with five others, removed barricades and broke into Irwin Square, Amravati, where a statue of BR Ambedkar is installed. Thereafter, the police invoked section 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code against Rana.
Put in House Arrest Under Section 144 of CrPC (2022)
On 12 January 2022, Rana was put in house arrest under Section 144 of CrPC for installing Shivaji Maharaj’s statue on Rajapeth flyover, Amravati, on the occasion of the Shivaji Maharaj’s mother’s birthday. Police commissioner Arti Singh claimed that Rana and his followers had illegally encroached upon the flyover to install the statue. In the aftermath of the incident, Yuva Swabhiman Party’s activists burnt an effigy of Amravati municipal commissioner Pravin Ashtikar in front of Rana’s house in protesting the removal of the statue.
Accused of Attempt to Murder (2022)
Ravi Rana was accused of attempt to murder over an assault on the Amravati Municipal Commissioner in 2022. Some women workers of Rana’s Yuva Swabhiman Party splashed ink upon Amravati Municipal Commissioner Dr Pravin Ashtikar. Apparently, the activists were angry with the removal of the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, which was being installed in Rajapeth flyover, Amravati. Allegedly, the statue was being installed without seeking formal permission from the Municipal Corporation; therefore, it was removed. Rana claimed that he was not present at the spot when the incident took place; hence, he could not be held responsible.
A picture featuring Yuva Swabhiman Party’s woman activist throwing ink at Amravati municipal commissioner Pravin Ashtikar
Arrested In Hanuman Chalisa Row (2022)
On 23 April 2022, Rana and his wife, Navneet Kaur Rana, were arrested by Mumbai police and sent to 14 days of judicial custody on the orders of a local magistrate for chanting Hanuman Chalisa in front of Matoshree, the residence of Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray. The couple had earlier announced that they would recite Hanuman Chalisa in public if mosques continued to use loudspeakers for Azaan and other announcements. Thereafter, the couple was booked under IPC section 153 (A) (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), and section 135 of the Mumbai Police Act (violation of prohibitory orders of police). Later, the police also added IPC Section 124-A (sedition) in the case against them. The City Civil and Sessions Court granted bail to the couple on 4 May 2022 over bonds of Rs. 50,000 each and directed them not to speak to the media about the case.
Car Collection
- Ford Endeavour
- Toyota Fortuner
Asset & Properties
Movable Assets
- Cash: Rs 3,50,000
- Deposits in Banks, Financial Institutions and Non-Banking Financial Companies: Rs 3,24,274
- LIC or other insurance Policies: Rs 14,70,000
- Motor Vehicles: Rs 30,41,255
- Jewellery: Rs 25,40,240
Immovable Assets
- Agricultural Land: Rs 3,50,000
- Commercial Buildings: Rs 30,00,000
- Residential Buildings: Rs 1,87,00,000
Net Worth
As of 2019, his net worth is Rs. 2,80,24,668.
Facts/Trivia
- A brainchild of Ravi Rana and Baba Ramdev, the mass marriage ceremony held in Vidarbha in 2011 led Rana’s name to be recorded in the India Book of Records since it was the largest mass marriage ceremony ever performed in history. With a budget of seven crores, the event integrated several communities’ matrimony.
A picture of Ravi Rana and Navneet Rana on their wedding day, along with Baba Ramdev, receiving the India Book of Records Certificate for Largest Mass Wedding
- In 2015, he made headlines when he saved an old man’s barbershop from encroachment. The shop belonged to a barber named Mahadeo Chandrabhan Dehankar, who was the sole bread earner of his family. While addressing the media, Dehankar said,
I have been running this shop for the last 40 years and meeting both ends of my family on the strength of it. I was shocked when AMC encroachment demolition squad served a notice on me. The thought of losing my bread and butter made me restless and I rushed to MLA Ravi Rana for help.”
- He is an adherent follower of Lord Ganesha.
Ravi Rana carrying Lord Ganesha’s statue for visarjan
