Sulking state industries minister Narayan Rane has said he would quit the state cabinet on Monday and subsequently announce his future plan. Sources close to Rane told dna that he was likely to join the BJP ahead of the state polls scheduled in October.
Rane however clarified he would only leave the govt and not the Congress. "I have not met BJP leader Nitin Gadkari. I met him last when Gopinath Munde passed away," Rane said.
This May, after his son Nilesh had been defeated in the Lok Sabha elections, Rane submitted his resignation to chief minister Prithviraj Chavan. Chavan and MPCC president Manikrao Thakre, however, consoled him and promised that the party would take appropriate steps ahead of the state polls.
According to sources, Rane is upset with the party central leadership which has not been paying attention to his demand for overhauling the party. He wants the Congress leadership in the state changed for the party to perform better in assembly polls. Congress president Sonia Gandhi too had reportedly not paid heed to Rane's suggestions after the party's debacle in LS polls. Besides, Rane had not expected his son to lose in Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, his home turf.
When Rane left Shiv Sena in 2005 to join the Congress, the central leadership had promised him the CM's chair and a major say in the decision-making process. "But he was ignored and promises not kept," another source said.
Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray has already clarified that Rane or any other leader who had antagonized his father, the late Balasaheb Thackeray, would not be welcomed in Shiv Sena, a source said.
"The only option before Rane is to either join the BJP or launch his own party. However, launching a new party would be a big challenge that Rane may not be able to manage given his ebbing support base.
Hence the only possibility is to join the BJP, and Rane has initiated steps in this direction," claimed the source.
"The demise of Gopinath Munde put off Rane's plan to join the BJP. Munde was close to Rane, who is now developing cordial relationship with Nitin Gadkari," the source added.
Rane, meanwhile, has decided to travel to Kankavli, his constituency in Konkan, by road on Friday. "I will meet my supporters in Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg and hold a meeting of my supporters in Kankavli on Sunday," Rane said.
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