Maharashtra former chief minister and senior Congress leader Narayan Rane will today announce his decision to quit Congress. The possibility of Rane joining the BJP has been doing the rounds for the past six months, especially after he met Amit Shah accompanied by Devendra Fadanvis in April at Shah's residence.
Rane and his sons, Nilesh and Nitesh Rane, have been very vocal in their criticism of state Congress President Ashok Chavan for not doing enough to strengthen the party. Nilesh Rane, also a former MP, said, "We do not approve of the way Chavan is running the party. We belong to Sonia Gandhi's Congress and not Ashok Chavan's. He is, in fact, doing a lot of serious damage to the party."
He noted that Rane had managed to win zilla parishad, panchayat samiti and municipal elections for the Congress party in Sindhudurg district, while all other influential leaders like Chavan, Wikhe Patil, Patangarao Kadam and Prithviraj Chavan lost on their home turf. "Despite that, two days ago, Ashok Chavan suddenly dissolved Sindhudurg district Congress committee and appointed a new president. He didn't bother to consult us and passed the buck on to the high command," Nilesh said.
Narayan has been camping in Sindhudurg for the past week and is meeting local party leaders and supporters. He said, "I had said that I will wait till the beginning of Navratri festival and I will announce my decision. The decision to join the BJP is not taken yet, but I am surely fed up with Ashok Chavan's way of functioning."
Narayan's decision to quit the Congress will definitely benefit the BJP as he is widely known for being very generous and supportive of ordinary party workers. A staff member of Maharshtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC), on conditions of anonymity said, "Rane saheb really used to take care of party workers. He paid salaries of the MPCC staff for months despite Ashok Chavan being the state president."
Narayan is a member of the state's Legislative Council, while Nitesh is a Congress MLA. They will lose their seats if they quit the party. Kalidas Kolambkar, a Rane loyalist MLA from Mumbai, is also likely to side with Narayan Rane. There are speculations that Rane won't ask his son and Kolambkar to resign from the party right now as the BJP has not given any firm promise for their rehabilitation yet. BJP will get Rane elected to the Legislative Council on their ticket on the seat he leaves vacant.
State Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil had earlier said, "We will welcome Narayan Rane whenever he decides to join the BJP. I am ready to offer my PWD ministry portfolio to him if needed."
