In a twist of fate, the Shiv Sena suddenly finds itself one-up against revenue minister Narayan Rane, at least in the Malvan assembly constituency in Sindhudurg district of Konkan
In a twist of fate, the Shiv Sena suddenly finds itself one-up against revenue minister Narayan Rane, at least in the Malvan assembly constituency in Sindhudurg district of Konkan.
The forthcoming assembly by-elections in which Rane is seeking re-election from Malvan, coincides with the trial of Rajan Teli, his former henchman, in the murder of Satyavijay Bhise, local Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader. Teli, the main accused, and his alleged mentor, Rane, who were both Shiv Sainiks, switched loyalties recently to join the Congress. The Sena hopes any fallout from the trial, which starts on September 27, may embarrass the Congress.
Gurunath Kulkarni, state NCP leader and Sindhudurg strongman, claims his party would back the Bhise family, irrespective of the outcome. “He was our main functionary,” he says. “We took a stand to act as witnesses in the court. Rane’s political loyalty does not matter to us.”
Bhise was murdered on September 20, 2002. The police arrested Teli, who later got out on bail. Their rivalry began during the zilla parishad election when Bhise’s brother, Balu, defeated Teli by three votes, following which, NCP and Congress leaders set Rane’s bungalow ablaze. The protesters included Congress leaders such as former AICC general secretary and MLC Sudhir Sawant, Pushpsen Sawant and Ramakant Sawant, who suddenly find Rane in their own camp.
The Sena aims to score points over the incident. MLA Ramdas Kadam has demanded that stringent action be taken against all those responsible for Bhise’s murder. The party is ready to sympathise with NCP in its bid to nail Teli and embarrass Rane. Sindhudurg zilla pramukh Parshuram Uparkar claims none of the accused are with the Sena. The Sena is also canvassing Bhise’s murder case in its election campaign to extract maximum mileage. Earlier, Rane was acquitted in a case involving the murder of local Congress leader Shridhar Naik in 1991.
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...but Cong stands firm behind him
Shubhangi Khapre
The Congress has decided to defend revenue minister Narayan Rane, who is engaged in a street fight with the Shiv Sena. Party spokesman Hussain Dalwai said, “Congress will not be cowed down by the Sena. We fought it for many years, but we don’t subscribe to the violence. But that does not mean we will tolerate Sena’s ‘dadagiri’.”
On Rane’s confrontation with the Sena, a Congress official said, “He has now joined our party. All those working with Rane and fighting the Sena are also Congress workers. The party’s full support is with them.”
Although Congress president Prabha Rau has cautioned Rane to exercise restrain in the use of language while attacking the Sena, the party feels it cannot be seen docile when the former Sena leader is single-handedly taking on the sainiks. The Congress has also realised Rane is drawing huge crowds at public meetings. He is proving to be a catalyst in creating a wedge in the Sena, by wooing away large section of sainiks to the Congress-fold.
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