MH-RANE

Don't know if Rane joining Cong was mistake or blunder: Pawar
    Mumbai, Aug 17 (PTI) NCP chief Sharad Pawar has said
that he cannot tell whether former Shiv Sena leader Narayan
Rane's move of joining the Congress in 2005 was a mistake or a
blunder.
    He was speaking at the launch of Rane's autobiography
here on Friday.
    Pawar said that Rane had two options- either to join
the Congress or the NCP.
    "He chose the Congress. I can't say whether it was a
mistake or a blunder," Pawar said.
    The NCP chief said that he had told Rane on the issue
of being promised the post of chief minister by the Congress
then, that the grand old party does not function on the basis
of assurances.
    "Congress doesn't function like this. I know since I
have spent major part of my life there," Pawar said.
    Rane, who has pockets of influence in the Konkan
region of Maharashtra, was handpicked by Bal Thackeray as
chief minister when he decided to remove the genial Manohar
Joshi ahead of the 1999 Assembly elections.
    However, Rane was expelled by Bal Thackeray after he
voiced displeasure over Uddhav Thackeray gaining prominence in
the party.
    Union minister Nitin Gadkari, who was also present on
the occasion, said in 1995, during the first Shiv Sena-BJP
government, Rane was the Animal Husbandry Minister.
    "When he would put forth his views in the cabinet
meetings, we understood that this man was different. We came
close when both of us became leaders of the opposition," he
said.
    Before joining the Congress, Rane was the Leader of
Opposition in the state Legislative Assembly as a Shiv Sena
leader, while Gadkari was the Leader of Opposition in the
Council.
    Gadkari said he had advised Rane against joining the
Congress.
    "But Rane had tears in his eyes and said he had no
other option. Had Rane not joined the Congress, the political
scene in the state would have been different," he said.
    Gadkari said late Bal Thackeray would tell him to
induct some Shiv Sena leaders into the BJP and would also ask
him to join the Shiv Sena.
    "You are not right in the BJP, join the Shiv Sena,"
Gadkari recalled Thackeray as saying.
    Speaking on the occasion, Rane thanked Gadkari for
taking time out to attend the function.
    "BJP leaders and state ministers Vinod Tawde and
Ashish Shelar came on one phone call. NCP leader Sunil Tatkare
alsocame. But Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis did not give
his time," he said.
    Speaking about the book, Rane said he had written it
cautiously.
    "When I became an MLA, I wanted to become a minister
and when I became a minister, I wanted to become the chief
minister. I did become...Now I am an MP, but not out of will,"
he said.
    Rane said he feels bad that the most important phase
of his life has gone waste.
    "My time is going waste even now," Rane, who is an
associate member of the BJP, said.
    Rane quit the Congress in 2017 and formed Maharashtra
Swabhiman Paksha and became an ally of the ruling BJP. He is
currently the Rajya Sabha member on BJP ticket. PTI MR
NP NP

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from a PTI feed.)