Amravati MP Navneet Rana and her husband MLA Ravi Rana. File | Photo credit: The Hindu
Twenty-two BJP candidates in the just-concluded Amravati Municipal Corporation polls have written to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis demanding the expulsion of former MP Navneet Rana for allegedly campaigning against the party.
Of the 22 applicants, two won while 20 lost in the civic elections held on January 15. They alleged that former Amravati Lok Sabha MP Navneet Rana aggressively called the saffron party’s candidates as “dummies” and promoted her husband Ravi Rana’s Yuva Swabhiman party contestants as “genuine BJP candidates”.
Ahead of the civic polls, the BJP and MLA Ravi Rana’s Yuva Swabhiman Party broke their alliance. However, a local BJP leader said that Navneet Rana will continue to campaign for the party’s candidates as saffron.
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In the 87-member Amravati Municipal Corporation, BJP won 25 seats, Yuva Swabhiman Party and Congress won 15 each, AIMIM 12, NCP 11, Shiv Sena and BSP 3 each, Shiv Sena (UBT) 2 and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi secured 1 seat.
In the previous elections, the BJP won 45 seats and the Yuva Swabhiman Party won three seats. Saddened by the defeat of 20 BJP candidates, the losers as well as the two winners wrote a letter to CM Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday (January 17, 2026) claiming that their loss was not caused by people but by Navneet Rana.
“We are dedicated and hardworking party workers, connected with the society. But our defeat in this election is not because of the opposition but because BJP leader Navneet Rana openly campaigned against the party,” they said.
They demanded that Navneet Rana be expelled from the BJP and claimed that if she is not shown the door, she will destroy the party’s presence in Amravati city in future. The former MP’s reaction to the matter was not available.
Published – 18 Jan 2026 13:27 IST