Narayan Rane meets Sonia Gandhi. Is CM on his way out?

After lying low for several months, Maharashtra industries minister Narayan Rane on Friday held a politically significant meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Coming as it does in the backdrop of proposed changes in the party set-up as well as the union cabinet, the meeting has sparked speculation about a leadership rejig in the state.

A one-time contender for the CM’s post, Rane had been virtually staying away from the national capital, even as son Nilesh, an MP from Ratnagiri, was actively promoting his father’s cause. On his part, hand-picked Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan, deputed to handle an image crisis in the state, is not having a comfortable time, with party legislators both “collectively and individually expressing doubts of being re-elected, blaming Chavan’s sluggish handling of political issues,” said a legislator.

While state Congress legislators pointed to the fact that Chavan has not yet given up his official residence in the national capital despite taking over as CM nearly 20 months ago, Mohan Prakash, the party’s state in-charge, maintained that no leadership change is in the offing. Describing the Rane-Sonia meeting as routine, Prakash said, “It’s usual for the president to meet leaders from states,” he told the DNA.

Though Chavan seemed to be on the defensive, sources in the state political corridors claimed that should an opportunity arise, he was mentally prepared to move to Delhi — a wish he has openly expressed to close aides many a time in the past few months. While denying being in the know of any leadership change decision by the high command, Chavan told reporters that “neither he nor anyone else had a choice in such a case”.

A state leader claimed, “The Rane-Sonia meeting was scheduled to discuss the party’s standing in Maharashtra, where Rane may lead the party in the Assembly polls and stood to be rewarded with chief ministership in case of a Congress win.”