Actress, NCP nominee Kaur Rana complains of abuse by Shiv Sena MP Anandrao Adsul in Amravati

Actress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate from Amravati Navneet Kaur Rana has lodged a complaint against the Shiv Sena member of parliament Anandrao Adsul for allegedly abusing and threatening her.

An official at Gadge Nagar police station in Amravati confirmed that a case had been registered for offences pertaining to threats, use of foul language and abuse in the name of caste and character and they are investigating the matter.

However, the 67-year-old Adsul denied the charges leveled against him saying that Kaur Rana had deliberately raked up the issue to gain public sympathy.

The 27-year-old actress complained that during a television debate that was recorded on a bus on Sunday morning Adsul made some statements about his work and when she asked him to be specific he used foul language.

Adsul said that it was some NCP activists, present during the filming of the debate by a private news channel, who shouted slogans saying they did not want a 'Swabhimani' candidate, but a Dalit candidate. It was then that she told them to look into their own houses.

The Shiv Sena MP said his party always respected women and as an example had supported the candidature of Pratibha Patil for the post of President of the country.

Kaur Rana also complained that she had received a call threatening her against filing her nomination form.

But again Adsul alleged that according to his information the call was made from a public call office in Ghatkopar. He said that the actress's husband Ravi Rana, who is an independent MLA from Badnera, had indulged in similar antics during the last Assembly election.

Meanwhile, a committee is inquiring into a complaint against the caste certificate issued to Kaur Rana, following the order of a magisterial court.

Social activist Jayant Wanjari had filed a petition in the Mulund court seeking that she be restrained from using her caste certificate to gain benefits of reservation, including for the Lok Sabha elections, as it was obtained on the basis of fake documents.

The court ordered the police to register a first information report (FIR) and investigate the charge and whether the actress had obtained the certficate of scheduled caste according to the law.

Kaur Rana picked despite opposition within NCP
The nomination of actress Navneet Kaur Rana, the wife of independent MLA Ravi Rana, as a candidate of the Nationalist Congress Party from the Amravati Lok Sabha constituency surprised party leaders and activists.

Many are opposed to her candidature as Ravi Rana had defeated the NCP's candidate Sulabha Khodke, the wife of the party's Amravati strongman Sanjay Khodke in the Assembly elections and later associated himself with the Congress. "She was declared a candidate on the insistence of deputy chief minister Ajjit Pawar, despite the opposition within the party. There was no discussion within the party on her nomination," said an NCP leader.

"It's possible the choice was made on the basis that she is an actress and the glamour factor surpassed the controversies. The financial strength of the candidate may have also helped. The actress and her husband are associated with yoga guru Baba Ramdev and an erstwhile dance bar owner-turned-news channel baron, who may have pulled strings to get her selected," the NCP leader said.