Ending speculation, Narayan Rane on Thursday handed over his resignation as the state revenue minister to AICC general secretary Margaret Alva, who is in charge of Congress’ Maharashtra affairs.
MUMBAI; Ending speculation, Narayan Rane on Thursday handed over his resignation as the state revenue minister to AICC general secretary Margaret Alva, who is in charge of Congress’ Maharashtra affairs.
Rane, who has been at loggerheads with the chief minister, made it clear to Alva it was not possible for him to work in the state cabinet under the leadership Vilasrao Deshmukh.
Confirming the development, Alva said: “Rane has offered to discontinue in the Democratic Front government. Congress president Sonia Gandhi is away in Beijing for next three days. We will discuss the issue on August 11.”
The resignation will not be valid till the Centre forwards the letter to the chief minister and gets the governor’s consent. But this time the Centre may not persuade Rane if he sticks to his stated position.
Stepping up his campaign against the chief minister in New Delhi, Rane said, “The Congress cannot win elections under the leadership of Deshmukh.”
“The entire administration is complacent. I don’t want to be part of a government which cannot address people’s concerns,” he said.
Rane also attached with the resignation letter a detailed note explaining his reservations over the sale of CIDCO land to Videocon group for setting up Rs8,000 crore project in Navi Mumbai.
According to the Rane camp, “The ball is now in Sonia Gandhi’s court. She has to take a final call on whether she wants to address the issues raised by Rane or allow Deshmukh a free hand in the state.”
However, there is growing pressure within the Congress not to buckle under Rane’s threat and to instead accept the resignation. Top leadership within the AICC and the MPCC are not sympathetic to Rane and argue that he may have exposed Deshmukh but has done more damage to the Congress organisation.
Also, the project which he is objecting to was approved by the Centre, which is ready to invest Rs2,000 crore in it.
In the public eye, however, Rane has managed to label the Congress as pro-industrialist which has sold land worth Rs3,000 crore for Rs340 crore.
Deshmukh, meanwhile, maintained a studied silence on the entire resignation episode and has also asked his supporters not to react.
This, however, hasn’t deterred cabinet ministers and MLAs from parking themselves in Delhi to promote their own interests. Caretaker MPCC president and cooperation minister Patangrao Kadam met AICC officials in Delhi. He is trying to impress upon Alva to constitute a new team and get rid of all warring big-wigs in the organisation, indirectly promoting himself for the top job.
The chairman of the Videocon group, Venugopal Dhoot, has indicated that they may have to shift the Rs8000 crore project on CIDCO plot at Navi Mumbai to some other state if it gets entangled in ugly political war. Rane has opposed the project which was sanctioned at the cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
The company has offers from various states, which are willing to give huge concessions, according to a senior official in the revenue ministry.
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