In an expected volte-face, the agitating independent MP Navneet Rana and her MLA husband Ravi Rana on Saturday abruptly called off their agitation to march to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s private home in Bandra.

MLA Rana claimed that the agitation was being withdrawn in view of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Mumbai tomorrow (Sunday) to avoid any law-and-order situation from cropping up.

The duo claimed that they were not under any kind of pressure or scared by the Maha Vikas Aghadi or the Shiv Sena, but were dropping their plans in honour of the PM’s trip to Mumbai.

“This was not an agitation. We just wanted to go to the CM’s home and recite Hanuman Chalisa with full faith to remind him of the forgotten ideals of the late Shiv Sena founder the late Balasaheb Thackeray. We were stopped from going there, we were gheraoed, our Amravati home was attacked. But now we have withdrawn our plans,” Rana added.

He darkly warned that for ‘insulting’ Hanuman Chalisa, the people of the state and the divine forces will teach the ‘egoistic’ Thackeray an appropriate lesson at the appropriate time.