Narayan Rane : A Longtime Sulking Leader

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Narayan Rane is sulking for quite a time now. The veteran leader, hailing originally from Shiv Sena and having shifted later to Congress, is hanging around Bharatiya Janata Party's lobby to get a berth in the Maharashtra cabinet.

However, his hopes do not appear to come to fruition anytime soon as BJP choses to place him on its waiting list. On Wednesday night, Rane met BJP President Amit Shah at his residence and later claimed that the latter promised a Rajya Sabha seat to him in lieu of the ministerial berth. CM Devendra Fadnavis and Mumbai BJP President Ashish Shelar as also Narayan Rane's MLA son Nitish were also present in the meeting.

Rane's claim cannot be taken at its face value because BJP has made en number of such promises to him in the past but never fulfilled it. Again, Rane himself makes these claims and there is no word from BJP and that makes the matter even more curious.

Rane had formed a new party called 'Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksh' last October after quitting the Congress and had indicated his organisation may align with the BJP

The 65-year-old leader known for his outspoken nature has pockets of influence in the Konkan region, mainly Sindhudurg district. Rane served as the chief minister in 1999 when he was in the Shiv Sena but is presently the bete noire of the party, a reason why BJP apparently cosied up to him. The Shiv Sena has been bitterly critical of Rane, who had objected to Uddhav Thackeray's elevation in the party.

Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray had expelled Rane from the party following which the Maratha leader joined the Congress on July 26, 2005. He was made the revenue minister in the then Congress-NCP government in the state the very next day.

Rane is also known for his aspiration to become the chief minister, an ambition he has professed publicly on many occasion to possess. "I still have an ambition to become the chief minister of Maharashtra. It never dies. I will wait for the right time to come," is his popular refrain. He claims that Congress had promised him to make CM but never made him one.

There were speculations in the past that Rane would join the BJP. However, a large section in the BJP was not in favour of his induction into the party. Rane resigned from the Congress in September last year after accusing the party having reneged on the promise of making him the chief minister. He had also resigned as a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council.