A disgruntled Narayan Rane quits Congress

Mumbai, Sept 21: Heavyweight Congress leader, Narayan Rane, today parted ways with the party and also announced his resignation from the Maharashtra Legislative Council. Speculation was rife that Mr Rane would soon join the Bharatiya Janata Party. Mr Rane asserted that despite assurances, he was never given the Chief Minister's post in nine years Congress rule and was insulted on many occasions. Addressing a public meeting at Kudal, in Sindhudurg district, Mr Rane said Ahmed Patel, political secretary to Congress President Sonia Gandhi had assured him that he would be made the Chief Minister. But he was never considered for the post after late Vilasrao Deshmukh. Mr Rane took the names of Ahmed Patel, Digvijay Singh and Margaret Alva as those who assured him the top post. He affirmed that four times he came very close to Chief Ministership but could not get it. He alleged that top state Congress brass tried level best to thwart his entry in the Legislative Council but finally he made it due to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. Originally from Shiv Sena, Mr Rane was MLA from 1990 and in 1999 was made Chief Minister for nine months Later, he was the leader of the Opposition. In 2005, he joined Congress and in 2014 held important portfolios. However, he was never on good terms with late Vilasrao Deshmukh or former chief minister Ashok Chavan. His sons Nilesh and Nitesh are former Congress MP from Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri and Nitesh , a Congress MLA, respectively. There was no definite announcement about their future in the Congress. However, Mr Rane said he will start a tour of Maharashtra and soon may people will leave the Congress. UNI