MUMBAI: The entry of former chief minister and Shiv Sainik-turned-Congressman Narayan Rane into the BJP continues to be uncertain as the state party is said to be in two minds about him.
Rumours of Rane, often referred to as the ‘King of Konkan’, joining the BJP have been in the air for quite some time. Ever since the Congress lost power in Maharashtra in 2014, there were reports that Rane would quit the party.
The rumours often led to efforts of reconciliation by the Congress leadership which, however, did not reach anywhere. In the meantime, he lost much of his political clout. His elder son Nilesh Rane lost the Parliamentary election in 2014; and he himself lost the assembly election on his home turf in Sindhudurg district. His attempts to win a bypoll, too, failed, foiling his attempts to enter the assembly.
Then, suddenly there was news that Rane would return to Shiv Sena. But Uddhav Thackeray publicly shut the doors for him. The Congress, meanwhile, sent a sulking Rane to the Upper House, where he took on the government aggressively, but the threat by the ruling party to reopen files of corruption cases against his government tamed him.
Since then, Rane has been waiting for a green signal from the BJP. Although several dates were announced, nothing happened. The latest was the BJP’s national executive meeting in Bhubaneswar—where the announcement was expected—but even that did not materialise. Days before the national executive meeting, Rane had met BJP president Amit Shah along with CM Devendra Fadnavis in Ahmedabad, where the issue was supposedly discussed.
A section of the state BJP leadership feels that having Rane would help them make inroads in Konkan, where the party had not been able to break Shiv Sena’s hold. However, there are others who are worried about his trust deficit and the negative impact it will have on the party.